Google's Nexus 5X and 6P pricing outside the US is ridiculous
As a European, I'm used to paying more for devices, software, subscriptions and other digital goods. If you compare the pricing, it appears that most company's simply replace $ with €/£ when it comes to offering goods in the European Union.
Europe is not alone when it comes to ridiculous pricing. Australia, Japan, Brazil and people from other countries around the globe experience the same issues.
Google announced the Nexus 5X and Nexus 6P officially yesterday. I had my eyes set on the Nexus 5X even though it's hardware specs were not overly good and its screen was larger than 5".
The announcement of both devices was uneventful for the most part. Google made it clear that users from the US, UK, Ireland and Japan can pre-order both devices right now while it is being made available in other regions later.
If you check the pre-order pricing of both devices, you will notice a big jump between the US price and the price in the UK, Ireland and Japan.
| Device | US | Ireland | € to $ | Difference |
| Nexus 5X 16GB | $379 | € 479 | $538 | $159 |
| Nexus 5X 32GB | $429 | € 529 | $594 | $165 |
| Nexus 6P 32GB | $499 | € 649 | $729 | $230 |
| Nexus 6P 64GB | $549 | € 699 | $786 | $237 |
| Nexus 6P 128GB | $649 | € 799 | $898 | $249 |
I could not get the price for all devices in Pound unfortunately but the base price suggests that the pricing is a bit better than the price in Euro but not by much. The base price for the Nexus 5X in the UK is £339, the base price for the Nexus 6P is £449. That's $514 for the Nexus 5X when converted and $680 for the Nexus 6P.
Part of the difference may be explained by the US sales tax that gets added to the price while it is included in the price in most countries.
Still, a difference between $159 to $249 for devices starting at $379 is quite a jump. The higher price puts the Nexus line of phones in direct competition with higher priced phones in Europe, for instance Samsung's Galaxy S6 which starts at €528 with 32GB of storage space, the Motorola Moto X Style with 32GB starting at €499 or the LG G4 with 32GB starting at €420.
If you compare specs and pricing, then you may come to the conclusion that there are better deals out there for the same or even a lower price.
Now You: What's your take on the price of Google's new Nexus line of phones?
“A difference of 277 euro! It just means I will buy it on US website and have it delivered through a friend living in the US. However, I feel insulted! How dare you try to rip me off to that extent!”
Adobe charges australia $1000 more to buy the software from australia. But don’t you worry, the TPP will soon put a stop to you bypassing these rules to get a cheaper phone; you might even be sued for it
“Yeah I’m from Australia and calculated how much I would have to pay for the new nexus 5x based on the USD (about $540) and thought it was alright, then heard that the price was going to be $660 here and was shocked. Maybe $600 would have been appropriate but 660 is getting a bit steep for a device which is supposed to be the cheaper no frills option. I’m considering maybe getting the moto x pure or something, but I think at this point I’ve waiting so long for the new Nexus 5 that I have to get it haha.”
this explains why its much higher in australia – people that have to have it will pay it
Oh, come on, you actually believe they put different hardware in them? Hardware was standardized like a decade ago and these newest phones are almost certainly have even software defined radio, that is, not even firmware for the radio is different.
OMG! Everyone dint answer the QUESTION: the nexus 5x is expensive in IRELAND b/c it’s the INTERNATIONAL VERSION OF THE PHONE.
It has super multiple radio bands. You can use the same phone in 4g from China–>India–>USA (virtually any carrier). Not many phones can say that.
Yes, I agree, it’s ridiculous. And, for me (India), the price differs by 3000 INR ($46 Approx). At, that difference, I could have opted for the 32 GB model. 16 GB seems to be a bit expensive (but it’s nevertheless a Nexus).
This infuriates me. Its the same across the board. I live in Ireland and am looking to buy microsoft’s surface 3. It costs 648 euro (4 gig RAM version + Keyboard + sleeve) when purchased through the US website and 925 euro when bought on the Irish website! A difference of 277 euro! It just means I will buy it on US website and have it delivered through a friend living in the US. However, I feel insulted! How dare you try to rip me off to that extent!
The Irish retail price exclusive of VAT is 104€ or ~14% higher than the US retail price exclusive of sales tax. Even if you declared the import to Irish customs, you’d still be saving up to 128€.
I’d check out the US warranty terms to make sure you can get service in Ireland. Also, will you need to buy a different power adapter? It looks like those run around 46€.
Finally, I see from yesterday’s headlines that the Surface Pro 4 was just released, in the US at least. Maybe if you wait a bit, you’ll get a better deal on the 3 (in both countries).
from Amazon.com
Motorola Nexus 6 Unlocked Cellphone, 32GB, Midnight Blue (U.S. Warranty)
List Price: $649.99
With Deal: $349.99 + $78.20 Shipping & Import Fees Deposit to Germany Details
so for increased value to lets say 500$(Nexus 6P) making the calculations
$500 + $112 = $612 -> 545 EUR not 650EUR google premium price
This is a Ripoff Shame you google
Not a smartphone or Android.
You all must be fairly young. Old farts like me don’t give a hoot about having the newest & best phone.Me, I use an LG306G TracFone that sells for all of $10 at Best Buy or Kmart (that’s $10.70 w/ sales tax, though).
I’m getting on in years, but I’d get a fancy new smartphone in a heartbeat … if it were fully portable across carriers and if I didn’t get reamed on the data plan. But I live in the US, so I don’t.
ironic. b/c the nexus 5x irish edition is one of the RARE RARE FEW that can work across carriers.
Google blames it on taxes and import-costs… but wasn’t the Nexus 6 last year $649 in the US and €649 in Europe? Weird that the US price lowers with nearly 25%, yet it doesn’t in Europe ‘because of costs’.
Sorry Google, not buying it (the story ánd the phone).
India Prices:
5P 16 – INR 31999
6X 32 – INR 39999
This just released today. I am for sure not opting for them. Probably Will go for Moto X or OP2.
I went into the source code of the webpages and found the following prices
Nexus 5X:
16GB -$659.00 AUD
32GB – $739.00 AUD
Nexus 6P:
32GB – $899.00 AUD
64GB – 999.00 AUD
128GB – $1,099.00 AUD
Yeah I’m from Australia and calculated how much I would have to pay for the new nexus 5x based on the USD (about $540) and thought it was alright, then heard that the price was going to be $660 here and was shocked. Maybe $600 would have been appropriate but 660 is getting a bit steep for a device which is supposed to be the cheaper no frills option. I’m considering maybe getting the moto x pure or something, but I think at this point I’ve waiting so long for the new Nexus 5 that I have to get it haha.
VAT on imports in Ireland is calculated on the value of the goods, plus the international shipping costs and insurance, plus any import duty due. Mobile phones are duty free in Ireland but the standard VAT rate (which I believe applies to mobile phones) is 23%. Excluding VAT reduces the Irish price premium significantly, to a range of 12% (on the 6P 128GB) to 19% (on the 6P 32GB), or $54 (on the 5X 32GB) to $94 (on the 6P 32GB).* That pre-VAT premium is not pure price-gouging but must also cover any additional transport, distribution, insurance, and payroll costs inherent to the Irish market. (Compared to most of the EU, the US has a low-wage, low-benefits service sector.) Regardless, most of the Irish price premium is accounted for by VAT.
Different US states have different tax systems. Some states, like Oregon, have no sales tax, and others, like Washington, rely heavily on sales tax. Sometimes, cities and counties may have authority to levy additional sales tax. In Seattle the combined state/city/transit retail sales tax is 9.5%; in Chicago, it will soon be 10.25%. However, local sales tax on small items like mobile phones is fairly easily evaded by purchasing online from a vendor that does not have an in-state presence.
It’s also important to remember that mobile-phone service is typically more expensive in the US than in Europe, due to lack of effective competition and very weak public oversight. If you did an apples-to-apples comparison of the total cost of owning and using a smartphone over a couple of years, the tables might be turned.. Add to that the dramatically higher cost of medical care and higher education in the US, and the European price premium on smartphones seems like pretty small potatoes.
*I ran up a quick-and-dirty spreadsheet which I’m pasting here, but I’m not an HTML guy, so … sorry about the wrap-around header row and the bad column spacing.(The Irish price exclusive of 23% VAT was determined by multiplying the supplied post-VAT price by 100/123.)
Device US Ireland € to $ Difference % Difference Ireland excl. 23% VAT Difference excl. 23% VAT % Difference excl. 23% VAT
Nexus 5X 16GB $379 € 479 $538 $159 42% $437 $58 15%
Nexus 5X 32GB $429 € 529 $594 $165 38% $483 $54 13%
Nexus 6P 32GB $499 € 649 $729 $230 46% $593 $94 19%
Nexus 6P 64GB $549 € 699 $786 $237 43% $639 $90 16%
Nexus 6P 128GB $649 € 799 $898 $249 38% $730 $81 12%
Those phones are made in china anyways, so shipping them to US and EU isnt going to affect the price at all.
I’m not sure why people keep bringing up medical care and education in the US – these are completely unrelated to Google charging over the odds in Europe. It’s not Europe’s job to pay Google extra money so their employees can go to college. VAT is a factor (I don’t think transport is such a factor because these units are largely being made in China, wherever they might be sold), but it does not excuse the rest of the price premium. The remaining premium is certainly not an insignificant sum when we’re dealing with units costing hundreds of dollars a piece. Cell service is slightly more expensive in the US, but not by a huge margin. It’s a nuisance that minutes expire on a standard pay-as-you-go service, but it again does not come close to accounting for the difference. Not to mention the handset manufacturer has no reason to charge Europeans more because their carrier might charge less.
Mobile telephones are not a regulated utility, and vendors set the price to maximize profits in each market, not to treat buyers in different countries fairly. Apparently, Google figures the profit-maximizing price on its Nexus phones is higher in Ireland than it is in the US. This might be due in part to Irish buyers having less of their disposable, after-tax income sucked up by cell-phone service charges, healthcare insurance premiums and out-of-pockets, and college tuition. The Irish may bear a higher tax burden, but in the end what matters to Google is how much money they have in their pockets to spend on a mobile phone.
Last I read, mobile phone service cost roughly twice as much in the US as it does in the UK. (UK pricing may be about to increase rather dramatically, as Ofcom is considering facilitating significant carrier consolidation, as the FCC and FTC have already done in the US.) I don’t know about other European countries, but I’ve read that that US service is the second most expensive of any major country in the world, after Canada.
Time to migrate to Windows Phone. Seriously.
We, Europeans, are stupid.
Even knowing about this huge price difference the market doesn’t suffer.
We should all buy Apple products, o wait a minute..
I thinks it has to do with the generous social programs you get in your countries and we don’t.
People already pay enormous taxes (especially in Northern Europe), so asking us for an almost 50% increase in price for a fucking phone is ridiculous (and oh, hey, read the article, you absolute idiot, and see how OTHER phones by OTHER manufacturers that have BETTER specs are at WAY more sensible price points, how do those MAGICIANS do it with all of you “generous social programs”???).
No, you’re an idiot. Stop trying to justify this corporate horseshit. It’s disgusting, and should be to both Americans AND everyone from outside the U.S. Google screwing over every country but the U.S. is not a good sign. It’s just one step in a chain, and the concept of the affordability of Nexus will slowly die out everywhere like this.
Why? Google isn’t responsible for those social programs. Tax is a factor in the price being a bit higher, but it is not a reason to raise the price by some 42%. This has been an issue with media and devices for decades now – not too long ago DVDs were region-locked specifically in order to enforce higher prices per unit in Europe, because companies are under the impression the European market will put up with higher prices.
Northern Europe only. Southern countries not so much.
Well at least they are available! You can’t even get one in Canada and no pricing was released. Go figure.
Perhaps the price difference has something to do with import/export taxes?
Also, why isn’t Ghacks remembering my name, email and website now. I am having to retype them every single time.
“…why isn’t Ghacks remembering my name, email and website now. I am having to retype them every single time.”
That’s a browser setting and/or a user choice issue.
Is your browser set to delete or not save your info? Or, do you purposefully delete (private) data such as form history, etc?
Check your privacy settings.
Isn’t this the same for all smartphones/tablets, that they cost much more in Europe than in the US?
We’ll be catching up with Europe soon enough. Must add hidden value added taxes to pay for all those freebie social programs.
Well we pay a lot more for medicine than you do:)
@ Radu:
Surprise! Even if you never need actual healthcare a day in your life, you still end up paying more for healthcare in the United States than you do in any other country.
The long story:
(1) Roughly 60% of healthcare in the United States is paid for with tax money. As in other developed countries, everyone pays the relevant healthcare-related taxes, but unlike other developed countries, not everyone gets healthcare or health insurance in return for those taxes.
(2) The Affordable Care Act (“Obamacare”) requires everyone to have health insurance and imposes rapidly escalating financial penalties on almost everyone who doesn’t.
(3) The United States has by far the highest medical prices in the world, because they are not comprehensively bargained or regulated. By way of anecdotal example, my aging father broke his arm a couple of years ago and the repair required a plate and screws. Total charges for all care, excluding rehabilitative physical therapy, came to just a hair under $50,000 (I reviewed the bills). And this was at Medicare rates (for senior citizens), which are in fact negotiated/regulated. MRI scans cost around three times as much as they do in Europe and from eight to ten times as much as they do in Japan. Drug prices are unregulated and typically cost at least twice as much as they do in other countries.
(4) The United States has by far the highest healthcare-administration costs in the world, because the system is fragmented, unharmonized, and rife with featherbedding and skimming. These costs are ultimately borne by patients and taxpayers. While other developed countries’ healthcare systems have an administrative overhead of under 12% (at most), in the US that figure is estimated to be between 25% and 30%. Again by way of anecdotal example, the Duke University Hospital in Durham, North Carolina (US), has around 1000 beds and around 1000 full-time billing clerks. The Royal Victoria hospital in Montreal, Quebec (Canada), has around 500 beds and has a total accounting staff of 12. Similarly, the support-staff payrolls at American doctors’ offices are four times higher than Canadian doctors’ support payrolls. (Wages aren’t four times lower in Canada; it’s just that Canadian doctors don’t need four times as many full-time employees to deal with hundreds of different insurers offering thousands of different plans and to harass patients for uncovered out-of-pockets.)
The short story:
You’re on the hook for helping to pay taxes to cover 60% of the world’s most overpriced healthcare without necessarily being entitled to any coverage in exchange for those taxes, and if you don’t get any publicly funded coverage, you are required to pay the world’s most overpriced private health-insurance premiums (for the developed world’s worst coverage). Trust me: you’re better off paying your fair share for an efficient, universal, cost-controlled system in another developed country than you are in the United States. Over 500,000 Americans a year file for bankruptcy because of medical bills, the leading cause of personal bankruptcy in the US. And most of them had insurance when they got sick or injured. If you don’t believe me, at least believe them.
Most people in Europe have no idea how lucky they are with our universal healthcare sysytem. And they also should be very aware that politicians, especially in the UK, are trying to introduce American type healthcare system by stealth. They do this by farming out National Health Service services to private companies because they´re more “efficient.” And introducing charges to visit your General Practioner Doctor.
If Europeans had the American private health care system forced on them, they would riot.
So agree with you. We are worst than any third world country when it comes to healthcare/medicines. Many people pay around 1/3 of their annual income on healthcare (insurance+medicines).
Well, we pay a lot for medical via taxes. I’d actually rather have the US system tbh, so I don’t have to pay for medical even when I’m not sick.
Yes I live in Australia and the N5X is predicted to be in the $660+ range. When the first N5 launched here it was in the $450 range.
I will be going for a Moto G 2015 if this is the case.
Here in Brazil is around 700$. That’s ridiculous.
Same here, was really looking forward to the Nexus 6P, but even with our dollar atm it would be $680 to import, and I’d be willing to pay up to $750, I wasn’t too bothered when it was expected to be $799, but when they announced $899 that’s a bit too much of a mark up.