Why is the Apple TV so expensive in Europe?

There are lots of disgruntled people in the UK this evening, following Apple's announcement that the new Apple TV, retailing for $99 in the US, will cost... £99. If you subtract our sales tax (which is always quoted upfront, unlike in the US) that's the equivalent of $128, a rather excessive 28% hike. We're used to paying a premium for Apple goods here -- the graph above shows how much more expensive we are across all the new iPods and the entry level iMac and 15" Macbook Pro -- but it's normally around 7-10%. Continental Europe fares no better. The French store's Apple TV page show a price of 119,00 €, which works out to $128.

Apple is perhaps feeling a little defensive about this; all its new iPod pages on the UK store have little notes next to the price. For example the iPod Nano 8Gb page states "£129.00 (Includes £25 VAT, duty and levies)". Certainly, Apple have been criticised for European price hikes before, sometimes deservedly and other times less so, and this tagline suggests it is sensitive to that and wants to stress that in Europe prices are quoted inclusive of sales tax and have an import duty charged.

None of that explains the anomalous price of the Apple TV though. Considering that us folk back in the Old Continent also don't have access to that tasty, tasty Netflix streaming, this really does make the Apple TV look like a significantly poorer deal east of the Atlantic.