London Cheapest in Europe for Apple But the French Get the Cheapest Xmas Tech Hamper

Special to TAG-IT News Agency

LONDON - UK Apple lovers will be pleased to know that London is the home of the cheapest Apple products, according to a survey by shopping comparison site, PriceRunner. However, if you're looking to fill your boots with a stocking of tech goodies then the French have pipped the Brits to the post for cheapest tech city overall.

The study compared items including an ipad, iphone, Macbook Air, HTC Desire, and a Sony TV and found the Parisienne tech shopping basket cost just 2498.41 compared to 2527.67 for the same products in London.

But for those looking to bag a single stocking filler should perhaps avoid heading for Dover or the Eurostar just yet. Pricerunner's study found that although the combined price of the shopping basked was cheaper in Paris, the iPad, iPhone and Macbook Air were individually all cheaper in London than anywhere else in Europe. Further afield New York was the cheapest gadget destination offering savings of 22% compared to London. Sao Paulo the most expensive costing 46% more than the London.

In 2007 London was the second most expensive city in the world but slipped down to eighth cheapest in 2008 thanks to retailer price wars. Now this trend has been reversed with large unexpected price increases across many common products. The UK has become a discount shopping destination over the last two years but is now moving up the league tables for all the wrong reasons - even before the VAT increase to 20 percent in January.

Now in its eighth year, the PriceRunner International Price Comparison survey compares a range of products across 32 countries including everyday items like milk, petrol and nappies as well as luxury items and technology.

Oslo was found to be the most expensive city for the fourth successive year, beating the average cost of goods compared to the rest of the world by over a third (35.6 per cent). Prices for everyday products are 1.80 for a can of Coke (56p in UK), 1.56 for a litre of milk (80p in UK) and 4.70 for a Big Mac (2.39 in UK).

Destinations further afield such as Shanghai, New York, San Francisco and Dubai beat London for bargains but closer to home London can still boast of its cheaper status in Europe ranking seventh cheapest out of 21 European cities.

Marc Thomas, UK manager for PriceRunner, commented; London is seen by many as an expensive holiday option but if you're choosing to shop in Europe it's still relatively cheap. Many retailers are maintaining their low prices across tech and gadgets in a bid to kick start the economy.
Consumers should enjoy the lower prices now before the VAT increase kicks in at 20 per cent in 2011. With many other EU countries also raising their VAT, next year's results should make for interesting reading.

The PriceRunner survey found that the cheapest city was Mumbai with prices 27 per cent below the global average. Bangkok and Dubai were 2nd and 3rd cheapest with prices 19.8 and 16.2 per cent respectively.

Most Expensive City: World

1.      Oslo
2.      Sao Paulo
3.      Sydney
4.      Stockholm
5.      Reykjavik

Least Expensive City: World

1.      Mumbai
2.      Bangkok
3.      Dubai
4.      San Francisco
5.      Shanghai

Most Expensive City: Europe

1.      Oslo
2.      Stockholm
3.      Reykjavik
4.      Helsinki
5.      Copenhagen

Least Expensive City: Europe

1.      Vilnius
2.      Prague
3.      Warsaw
4.      Berlin
5.      Budapest

Prices were collected from 18-24 October 2010. Where possible, three prices were collected for each product and the mean average was used as the city's price for the product. No less than two prices per product per city have been used, with the exception of those products where prices are standardized, e.g. alcohol in Sweden or McDonald's. In most cases prices were collected from multiple-outlet retailer stores to ensure they are as closely representative of each city's typical prices as possible.
All prices are in GBP. Exchange rates were taken from Google Converter on Nov 16, 2010

www.PriceRunner.co.uk, a division of ValueClick, Inc. is the UK's most comprehensive and independent shopping comparison website.

Online prices and discounts from over 1,000 retailers are updated on a daily basis by a specialist team using cutting edge technology to hunt down the cheapest prices available. PriceRunner is unique as it also has a dedicated team of Runners checking prices in high street stores. PriceRunner lists the cheapest price first and lists both paying and non-paying retailers to provide customers with the greatest choice of deals.