Apple Watch Black Market Edition
by Andy Faust
March 28, 2015
[T]he price of the Apple Watch in each of its global markets is fixed; it’s listed on the website.
“It’s like currency,” says [Asymco analyst Horace] Dediu. Factor in local taxes, and you can calculate with some precision what he calls the “global arbitrage opportunities.”
For example, the entry level gold watch — 38mm 18-Karat Rose Gold with a white sport band — retails in the U.S. for $10.000. The same watch is listed on Apple’s Chinese website for RMB 74,800 ($12,045). Beijing imposes a 17% value added tax. Hong Kong does not.