France shocked at iPhone X costing exactly French minimum wage
The Local France - [email protected]
Published: 13 Sep, 2017 CET.
Updated: Wed 13 Sep 2017 17:36 CET
After Apple unveiled its shiny new iPhone X to the world, French media noted with wonder and consternation that the hi-tech gadget cost almost exactly the same as a worker on France’s minimum wage earns for a month’s labour.
"Is the iPhone X worth a SMIC?" asked a headline in Le Parisien newspaper, using the French abbreviation for the monthly minimum wage that is legally fixed at €1,149 after tax.
The cheapest version of the iPhone X, unveiled on Tuesday at Apple’s new "spaceship" headquarters in California, will be sold in France from November 3 priced at €1,159.
The newspaper marvelled at the new product’s technology, but rather snootily noted that buying it for that price was like buying a Porsche for a short commute to work when a low-cost Dacia car would do the job just as well.
Ouest-France, the country’s biggest selling daily, joined the many media outlets engulfed in a moral quandary about people being asked to pay so much for a mere telephone.
"Ten euros. Or two handfuls of pains au chocolat. That is what now separates the price of an iPhone from the minimum wage," the paper wrote of the phone that marks the tenth anniversary of the launch of the first iPhone.
"In ten years, the iconic object of the Apple brand has grown three centimetres in height, and one in width, while its entry price has more than doubled," said Ouest-France. "The SMIC has for its part progressed by 150 euros to keep up with inflation."
READ ALSO
Social media was also awash with French users aghast at the price of the new device or mocking it.
One tweeter said that the SMIC minimum wage would henceforth be known as the “PIX: Price of the iPhone X”
? BREAKING NEWS ?
Dorénavant, le SMIC sera appelé PIX : Prix iPhone X #AppleEvent
— (Jean) Tifok (@tifok_) September 12, 2017
French customers desperate to get their hands on the latest Apple product can of course opt for the marginally cheaper iPhone 8, also launched on Tuesday.
Or if they can find a cheap flight, they could head to New York to take advantage of the favourable euro-dollar rate and buy an iPhone X 24 per cent cheaper than its price in France, according to BFM news channel’s calculations.
by Rory Mulholland
Comments
See Also
"Is the iPhone X worth a SMIC?" asked a headline in Le Parisien newspaper, using the French abbreviation for the monthly minimum wage that is legally fixed at €1,149 after tax.
The cheapest version of the iPhone X, unveiled on Tuesday at Apple’s new "spaceship" headquarters in California, will be sold in France from November 3 priced at €1,159.
The newspaper marvelled at the new product’s technology, but rather snootily noted that buying it for that price was like buying a Porsche for a short commute to work when a low-cost Dacia car would do the job just as well.
Ouest-France, the country’s biggest selling daily, joined the many media outlets engulfed in a moral quandary about people being asked to pay so much for a mere telephone.
"Ten euros. Or two handfuls of pains au chocolat. That is what now separates the price of an iPhone from the minimum wage," the paper wrote of the phone that marks the tenth anniversary of the launch of the first iPhone.
"In ten years, the iconic object of the Apple brand has grown three centimetres in height, and one in width, while its entry price has more than doubled," said Ouest-France. "The SMIC has for its part progressed by 150 euros to keep up with inflation."
READ ALSO
Social media was also awash with French users aghast at the price of the new device or mocking it.
One tweeter said that the SMIC minimum wage would henceforth be known as the “PIX: Price of the iPhone X”
? BREAKING NEWS ?
— (Jean) Tifok (@tifok_) September 12, 2017
Dorénavant, le SMIC sera appelé PIX : Prix iPhone X #AppleEvent
French customers desperate to get their hands on the latest Apple product can of course opt for the marginally cheaper iPhone 8, also launched on Tuesday.
Or if they can find a cheap flight, they could head to New York to take advantage of the favourable euro-dollar rate and buy an iPhone X 24 per cent cheaper than its price in France, according to BFM news channel’s calculations.
by Rory Mulholland
Join the conversation in our comments section below. Share your own views and experience and if you have a question or suggestion for our journalists then email us at [email protected].
Please keep comments civil, constructive and on topic – and make sure to read our terms of use before getting involved.
Please log in here to leave a comment.