Over the past two years the rand has weakened significantly against major world currencies – leading to South Africans paying more for imported goods.
One of the hardest-hit categories are technology products, with nearly all devices imported.
This raises the question: How much more are South Africans are paying for computing equipment when compared to international markets?
MyBroadband looked at some popular tech devices, and compared the local price with the pricing in Australia and the UK.
The results show that South African prices are usually in line with the UK and Australia, as detailed in the table below.
| Technology Products | ||||
| Product | Currency | South Africa | Australia | UK |
| Samsung 55-inch 3D Smart TV (UA55H6400) | Local currency | R14,500 | A$2,199 | £749 |
| USD | $1,144 | $1,599 | $1,171 | |
| iPad Air 2 16GB Wi-Fi | Local currency | R5,999 | A$619 | £399 |
| USD | $473 | $451 | $623 | |
| 12-inch MacBook 1.1GHz 256GB (2015) | Local currency | R19,599 | A$1,799 | £1,049 |
| USD | $1,546 | $1,311 | $1,639 | |
| Canon EOS 7D | Local currency | R22,000 | A$2,299 | £1,429 |
| USD | $1,735 | $1,675 | $2,232 | |
| Sony PS4 500GB | Local currency | R6,300 | A$549 | £300 |
| USD | $497 | $400 | $469 | |
This article originally appeared on MyBroadband and is republished with permission.
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Probably because the $ is so strong, the conversion doesn’t make it seem so bad. Little dollars for many rands.