AppAdvice International: Mac 30 Mini-Sites And iPhones In Brazil

This week, we’re asking: where’s the most expensive place in the world to buy an iPhone? Plus, we’ll be talking about Apple’s recently launched “Mac 30” mini-site, which has made an appearance in a number of international countries.

Brazil

The most expensive place in the world to buy an iPhone? You guessed it: Brazil. Apple’s recent retail store opening in Rio de Janeiro attracted crowds, but it also had the press talking about the prices of iOS devices in the South American country. Our article explained: “a contract-free 16GB iPhone 5s costs 2,799 reais ($1,174) in Brazil. This compares to $649 in the United States, and $872 in China.”

We added:

In Brazil, the 16GB iPad 2 sells for 1,349 reais ($566), while the 16GB iPhone 5c is available for 1,999 reais ($837). The 16GB iPad Air will set Brazilians back 1,749 reais, or $732.

Brazil is also one of the Top 10 smartphone markets in the world, and as of the end of 2013, the country boasted almost 50 million users. The new retail location in Rio is at its high end VillageMall, and it’s hoped that increased levels of footfall coinciding with the FIFA World Cup later this year, as well as the Summer Olympic Games in 2016, should result in impressive sales.

Back in November, we took a look at the real cost of Apple’s iPhone 5s around the world, and noted how in developing nations the price of the handset is surprisingly high:

In the United States, for example, the new handset sets customers back 1.37 percent of the country’s GDP; in China, the cost rises to almost 10 percent of the per capita GDP, and in India, the figure is even higher – 22.32 percent, as of this writing.

In India, at least, Apple has brought back the less expensive 8GB iPhone 4 in an attempt to foster sales. It’ll be interesting to see if the Cupertino, Calif. company replicates this strategy elsewhere.

Mac 30

Also this week, Apple rolled out its Mac 30 mini-sites in a number of international countries, localizing the content for several non-English languages. This first happened in Europe with Germany, and came to our attention once the alterations were made to Japan, China, and South Korea.

In our original article, we explained:

The company’s mini-site first launched for English language countries towards the end of last month, and celebrated the 30th anniversary of Apple’s Mac computer. Besides featuring a section of text from Apple acknowledging the important milestone, the mini-site also included a video interviewing professionals who’ve long used a Mac computer – titled “Thirty Years of Innovation” – and featured an interactive Mac timeline, too.

Besides translating the written content of the mini-site, Apple also subtitled its Thirty Years of Innovation video, too. The change appears to be rolling out gradually, and we’re guessing Apple is in the process of adding a localized version of the Mac 30 mini-site to every international iteration of Apple.com.

Has your local Apple.com website been updated yet?

We’ll be back at the same time next Tuesday with another helping of international Apple-related news. In the meantime, see: Panic Updates Diet Coda For iPad With Local File Support, New Syntax Modes And More, Apple To Launch iOS 7.1 ‘Around March 15,’ Will Improve Mobile Device Management, and Runmeter GPS Activity-Logging App Finally Gets Updated With M7 Support.