Great products from apple versus the average man in the street.

Question

hi evryone.
my name is brian and i live in a country south africa.i don't own any apple product and her in lies my complaint.
how is it possible that any company can design what they call a great product but which only a few can afford.
i know that living in SA there is the rand/dollar exchange rate issue but sit back and think a little.
if the cost of living is a one to one ratio then any product lets say the apple i-phone costs $500.00
hence in SA the product should cost R500.00(excluding profit margins etc)
but here products will cost you R8000.00 which in turn (ratio wise) will cost $8000.00
i don't think that any sane person will pay $8000.00 for an i-phone.
why! if an excellent product with the likes of i-pad , i-phone and i-pods are so highly rated can the average man in the street not afford them.
i would love to own an i-pad and an i-phone,i wish my 2 children could have i-pads or i-phones and i-pods, but because of issues wrt pricing in SA it not just possible.
is there no way that apple can (besides build all these great products) work out strategies which will allow individuals ,as myself, to be able to afford these kind of products.
or is that not the 'jobs' description of having a great product.

Answer 1

First of all, this a user-to-user forum. You are not talking to Apple employees here. For that you want the feedback page;
http://www.apple.com/feedback/macosx.html
As far as pricing is concerned, the exchange rate gives US$900 currently at around R6,050.00. Add on shipping costs and local dealer margins, not to mention import taxes and local sales taxes if they apply and you can see how the price mounts.
Cost of living, unfortunately, is not a measure much heeded by business. They have to make a profit on the product.
Basically, it's down to the economic climate and international perceptions of the SA economy as to where exchange rates fall, and only your government can do much to influence that.