By YASURO SUZUKI/ Staff Writer
June 15, 2022 at 18:08 JST
The iPhone 13 series released in September 2021 is displayed at a store in Tokyo’s Marunouchi district on Sept. 24, 2021. (Tsubasa Setoguchi)
iPhone fans in Japan don’t have to dig as deep into their pockets, with a new survey showing that they sell for about 20 percent cheaper in their country than the rest of the world.
The direct price of iPhones in Japan is the lowest in 34 countries and regions worldwide, according to a survey released by the Moving Mobile and Mobility Forward research institute on June 14.
“iPhones are high-end if you look at the world, but the sales situation in Japan where they are being sold at such an inexpensive price can be said to be unusual,” said Hideaki Yokota, an executive analyst of the Moving Mobile and Mobility Forward research institute.
As iPhone prices in Japan have not changed amid the recent rapid depreciation of the yen, they are getting relatively cheaper than other countries.
The research institute compared the online direct price of the iPhone 13 series, released in September 2021, and other models in various countries. It converted each price into yen at the exchange rate as of June 1.
The price of the iPhone 13 128GB model in Japan was 98,800 yen ($733), including tax. However, the average price excluding Japan was 126,433 yen. That equaled a difference of more than 20 percent compared to the global average.
The highest price was 207,221 yen in Brazil. The second lowest was Hong Kong at 111,831 yen following Japan. The price in the United States was 116,477 yen.
At the exchange rate as of September 2021, the direct price in Japan was the second lowest after Hong Kong.
New iPhone series are typically launched in September. The prices will apparently increase by up to 20 percent compared to the current iPhone 13 models.
In addition to the impact of the weak yen, surging materials and logistics costs will likely contribute to an increase in iPhone prices.
Other popular Apple products have already seen price increases. Prices of the new MacBook Air notebook computer, which will go on sale in July, will start from 164,800 yen, including tax. That is more than 30,000 yen higher than the current model.
The prices of the other MacBook models that are now on sale have also been raised by 10 to 20 percent.
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