iPod buying power

January 19, 2007 under Apple, Canada, Money

apple iPod Nano
It’s Friday, so let’s enjoy a laugh followed by a “huh?”. The Commonwealth Bank, a large Australian bank, has used the 2nd-gen iPod Nano as a measure of currency buying power. Using a consumer product to measure a country’s buying power seems strange, but C|Net reports that this is the case.

The Commonwealth Bank has determined that it’s very costly to purchase a Nano in Brazil, but it’s much more affordable (comparatively) here in Canada than anywhere else in the world. Here’s the breakdown from weakest purchasing power to strongest:

  1. Brazil $327.71
  2. India $222.27
  3. Sweden $213.03
  4. Denmark $208.25
  5. Belgium $205.81
  6. France $205.80
  7. Finland $205.80
  8. Ireland $205.79
  9. UK $195.04
  10. Austria $192.86
  11. Netherlands $192.86
  12. Spain $192.86
  13. Italy $192.86
  14. Germany $192.46
  15. China $179.84
  16. South Korea $176.17
  17. Switzerland $175.59
  18. New Zealand $172.53
  19. Australia $172.36
  20. Taiwan $164.88
  21. Singapore $161.25
  22. Mexico $154.46
  23. U.S. $149.00
  24. Japan $147.63
  25. Hong Kong $147.35
  26. Canada $144.20

So while this might show how one country’s currency is undervalued against another country’s currency, it probably doesn’t take into account any special pricing that Apple may set for each different country. So what should we get out of this? Along with a high quality of life, standard of living and quality beer, does Canada also enjoy the strongest purchasing power in the world? Or does Apple just really love the Great White North? Either way, I hope the same holds true for Samsung and Panasonic‘s line of LCD and plasma HDTVs? 😉

Apparently The Economist did a similar comparison of buying power using McDonald’s Big Macs 20 years ago.

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