UK News: Lets Go Shopping

Following recent fluctuations in the value of the US$ against the EU€, I was tempted to do a little price comparison between the price of European and American Apple Hardware. The results were quite surprising. After researching the subject I found out that it would be cheaper for me to fly from Ireland to New York, stay on Lexington Ave. for 3 nights, purchase a powerbook and then fly home, than to purchase the hardware in Ireland, even better, I would have $300 left over for spending money!

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The price of a 17" Powerbook (basic configuration) is US$2999, to price the exact same laptop in Ireland it would be the equivalent of US$4471.04, when sales taxes are taken into account there is a difference of over $1000!

There is no discernible reason for such a massive markup, seeing as the European Manufacturing Base for Apple Computer is based in Ireland, and I'm sure that the cost of importing manufacturing components to Ireland would be similar to the cost of importing to the United States. So what's the incentive for us Europeans to purchase Apple hardware locally, when we can enjoy a holiday, and purchase the hardware cheaper abroad?