14 DAY TRIAL // No Black Friday deals for Europeans looking to buy discounted Apple products. The California company decided to skip Europe, along with the UK this year, offering only (RED)-themed deals for Monday.
In a strange but smart move, Apple this year coupled (PRODUCT)RED deals for World AIDS Day with Black Friday and the holiday shopping season as a whole. The initiative is sure to spur sales and yield a handsome donation to the Global Fund.
United States is a go
As far the USA goes, Black Friday is on at the Apple Store. Despite still not offering any real discounts, Apple goes to the trouble to offer an iTunes Gift Card valued up to $100 (€80) that can be redeemed in the iTunes Store for apps, music, books, and a bunch of other stuff.
Basically, customers pay full price for any iPhone, iPad, Mac, or iPod they decide to purchase today and get the card as a bonus. The money deducted from that card goes to the Global Fund and then it gets used to treat AIDS sufferers and to stop the disease from spreading.
In announcing the World AIDS Day 2014 Campaign for (RED) on Sunday, Tim Cook, Apple’s CEO, said, “Apple is a proud supporter of (RED) because we believe the gift of life is the most important gift anyone can give. For eight years, our customers have been helping fight AIDS in Africa by funding life-saving treatments which are having a profoundly positive impact. This year we are launching our biggest fundraising push yet with the participation of Apple’s retail and online stores, and some of the brightest minds in the App Store are lending their talents to the effort as well.”
Nothing for UK and Europe
Not that anyone was keeping their fingers crossed for free iPhones and iPads around these parts either, but no deals whatsoever? What could the reason be? We have a theory.
Among various bureaucratic things that we’d rather not go into, it’s all too well known that Apple sells its products at higher prices (when doing the currency conversion) in Europe and other parts of the world than it does in the US. These prices also fluctuate quite a bit.
For instance, an Apple TV has never retailed above $99 in the US, but in Europe, you’ll find that same product selling for anything between €99 to €109. The same goes for other products.
In the US, the all-new Retina iMac goes for $2,400. The same product sells for £1,999 in the UK, which translates into about $3,136 American. That’s $136 extra. But here’s something even more interesting. In Germany, the 5K iMac sells for a whopping €2,599, which amounts to $3,236 USD. That’s $236 more, in case you can’t pull your calculator out in time.
Considering how Apple hates to discount anything as a general rule, it could be that Europe was basically just a fuss. You can visit the Apple online store here.
