M ore than 4,200 Europeans have "signed" an online petition asking Apple for price parity for the new Mac mini. In the petition, titled "Reasonable price for the Mac mini in the EU," the signers have said that Appleis European pricing is higher than it is in the US, and asked Apple to bring that pricing in line with the US in order to make the Mac mini more attractive to the market place.
Apple has priced the Mac mini at US$499 in the US and €489 (including VAT) in Germany and £339 (including VAT) in the UK. Using the German example, a Mac mini costs some $636.27, including 16% VAT. Adding 16% to US pricing, however, comes to $578.84, which converts back to €444.86, some €44 less expensive than actual Euro pricing. UK pricing works out in a similar fashion.
The poorly, or at least vaguely and meanderingly, worded petition says that if Appleis intention is to grow market share, it must be more aggressively priced in European markets, where Appleis presence is less than it is in the US. It also makes the case that profit margins and shipping costs are the same, and therefore Apple has no business gouging its European customers for more money.
However, Apple spokespersons in the UK told Macworld UK that there are actually extra shipping charges involved with doing business in European Union, and that Apple needs a cushion to protect against currency fluctuations.
Be that as it may, the online signature count for the petition is growing rapidly, climbing more than 200 signatures while we prepared this story.
ThisIsMoney, a UK media outlet owned by the parent company of the Daily Mail, originally reported on the petition.