Apple products often make headlines for their high prices. Consumers around the world hesitate to pay between $799 and $1,599 for iPhone 15 models. In fact, Apple is aiming to reach more users by developing affordable smartphones like the iPhone SE 4. However, in a market where many of us find $1000 expensive, there is a country that sells the iPhone 15 Pro Max for over $3,400. Yes, Turkey once again holds the record for selling the most expensive iPhone in the world. Here are the details…

Turkey’s $3,400 iPhone Once Again Crowned World’s Most Expensive iPhone

When we say “Most expensive iPhone in the world,” many of us think of Caviar’s iPhone models covered in gold and jewels. Yes, these iPhones, sold for thousands of dollars more, are incredibly expensive. However, users who purchase them are not paying for the phone itself but rather for the custom luxury design it possesses. What I mean by “most expensive iPhone in the world” is actually the familiar iPhone 15 that can be obtained for much less than any Apple Store around the world.

Apple recently updated its prices in Turkey, along with the introduction of the MacBook Air equipped with the M3 processor. As you may know, Turkey is particularly known for its high taxes on smartphones. Therefore, when prices increase, the impact is felt twice as much. After the price hike, the cost of the 1 TB iPhone 15 Pro Max, now the most expensive option, is 107,999 TL, which is more than $3,400. To put it in perspective, the same phone is sold in the United States for $1,599. Even in Brazil, the second-highest priced location, you would need to pay $2,800 for the same phone.

The fact that a phone is expensive does not necessarily mean it’s a negative thing right? If the purchasing power in a country is high, it may not be an issue for the people. Unfortunately, this is not the case, and the only sad thing is not just the prices of iPhones in Turkey. A large part of the country works for minimum wage, and with the current wages, it takes more than 6 months to save enough money to buy an iPhone 15 Pro Max. The absurd part is that these prices are not due to Apple. As mentioned above, the tax rates in the country are very high, and Turkey earns more money than Apple for every phone sold, which is quite ironic.

If you’re wondering, here is the list of countries where iPhones are most expensive in the world:

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How far would you go for love? Would you compromise your principles or make sacrifices? In the case of a courier working in Turkey, he went above and beyond. Instead of delivering 33 iPhones worth $30,000 to a technology store, he stole them and used the money to buy a car for his girlfriend. Here are the details…

A Man Steals 33 iPhones to Gift Girlfriend a Car

If you’ve ever entered the workforce, you’ve probably realized that not everyone shares your work ethics. In some cases, it seems that this value is nonexistent. Azim G., who worked in the city of Adana, Turkey, was employed by a courier company. His latest assignment involved delivering a package containing 33 iPhones to a technology store within a shopping mall. However, he chose to steal the box containing the phones instead.

Turkey is known for selling the world’s most expensive iPhones due to taxes. Consequently, stolen phones are more valuable there. A thief who quickly sold most of the stolen phones managed to buy a car for his girlfriend with the money he earned. Fortunately, the happiness of the two lovers didn’t last long. The truth came to light after the store noticed the missing delivery and examined the security cameras. The thief had never delivered the package he brought and was supposed to deliver.

After the incident, the police took action and raided the criminal’s house. During the investigation, the thief admitted to the theft of five iPhones found in his home during questioning. His girlfriend claimed she didn’t know that the car was a stolen gift and was purchased with stolen money. Certainly, the final decision on this matter will be made by the judiciary. Although the car and unsold iPhones have been seized, it is currently unclear who will be responsible for covering the damages.

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Technology prices are rising all over the world. Flagship smartphones used to cost around $600-700, but now they can cost over $1000. This is because smartphones have become more than just communication tools. They now have features like cameras, gaming capabilities, and much more. In Turkey, things are even worse. Over the past 30 days, Apple products in Turkey have seen three price increases. This means that Turkey now sells the most expensive iPhone in the world. Here are the details…

Economic Crisis Makes Turkey the Most Expensive Place to Buy an iPhone

Turkey is often seen as a cheap vacation destination, but the reality for Turkish people is very different. They are struggling with a rising cost of living, which has been made worse by the government’s authoritarian policies and high tax rates. The crisis is most noticeable in the prices of housing and food. However, the cost of imported goods including tech products has also increased significantly. This has made it difficult for many people to afford basic necessities.

The economic crisis in Turkey has caused the value of the Turkish lira to fall sharply. This, along with higher tax rates and exchange rates for the dollar, has led to a rise in prices for imported products. Apple, which sells its products in Turkey, has had to adjust its prices multiple times within a month. As a result, the iPhone 14 Pro Max with 1TB storage is now the most expensive iPhone in the world if you buy in Turkey.

The iPhone 14 Pro Max with 1TB storage space costs $1,599 in the United States. In Turkey, the price is more than double, at $3,273. However, only $1,636 of this amount goes to Apple. The rest of the money goes to the Turkish government in taxes. The government collects a lot of tax revenue from smartphones, which is much more than the profit made by the manufacturing company. The standard iPhone 14 with 128GB of storage costs $1818 in your country. That’s a lot of money! If you’re wondering, here is the list of countries where iPhones are most expensive in the world:

iPhone 14 / 128 Global in USD

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Electric vehicles (EVs) are becoming increasingly popular due to their lower environmental impact and technological advancements that have improved their performance and affordability. As concerns about climate change and air pollution have grown, many people are looking for more sustainable transportation options, and EVs have emerged as a viable solution. The battery technology that powers EVs has improved significantly, allowing for longer ranges and shorter charging times.

Turkey has recently imposed a 40% additional tariff on the imports of electric motor vehicles from China. This decision was made by the Turkish government and published in the country’s Official Gazette on Friday. The new tariff applies only to motor vehicles that have electric motors and are imported from China, making it clear that Turkey is trying to protect its domestic electric vehicle industry. The decision comes at a time when the global electric vehicle market is growing, and China has become a major player in the manufacturing of electric cars. However, this tariff is likely to make Chinese-made electric vehicles more expensive in the Turkish market, which could create an opportunity for local manufacturers to compete. The move could also be seen as an attempt to reduce Turkey’s trade deficit with China, which has been a concern for the government for some time. Overall, this decision is likely to have an impact on the Turkish electric vehicle market and could lead to changes in the competitive landscape of the industry.

Additionally, government incentives and regulations have made EVs more accessible and affordable to consumers worldwide. As a result, many car manufacturers have increased their EV production to meet the rising demand. With further technological advancements and increasing consumer interest, it’s likely that the popularity of electric vehicles will continue to rise in the coming years.

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Xiaomi has just announced a new partnership with a fast food based company. The brand is collaborating with McDonald’s, and is offering free burgers and more to customers that purchase its Redmi Note 11 series of smartphones.

Notably, the announcement was made by Xiaomi Turkey, so it is currently unclear if this offer will also extend to countries outside of this region. The new partnership was officially unveiled earlier this week, with the Chinese tech giant even sharing an Instagram post from their official Turkish account. This social media post revealed their cooperating with the popular fast food giant and even shared details of this promotional offers.

As of right now, people that purchase a Redmi Note 11 series phone in the region will also receive special McDonald’s coupon. These coupons can then be traded for two McChicken based Menu options (burgers) as well as Ice Cream Sundae. As of right now, it is unknown as to how long this offer will be available in Turkey. So, for those looking to buy a new Redmi Note 11 series smartphone, this offer might help sweeten the deal (no pun intended).

Hopefully, the Chinese smartphone maker also rolls out this promotional offer to other regions as well. So stick around for more, as we will be providing updates if there are any notable developments regarding this matter.

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The known electric vehicle maker, Tesla, has officially entered a new market. Now, the company’s popular EV models will be available in Turkey’s automobile market to further expand its global presence.

Just last year, the American automobile maker shipped over 900,000 units of its EVs across the globe. This marked a rise of 87 percent over the 2020 sales. As of right now, the US and China are the company’s largest market, although now, a new market has just opened up for the brand. Tesla has appointed Kemal Geçer as its general manager, officially entering the new car market in Turkey. Furthermore, the company’s operations in Turkey was previously believed to arrive with a capital increase of 50,000,000 Turkish liras (roughly 3.6 million US Dollars).

The EV maker is also working on setting up a Supercharger network in the nation, which will span most of the Balkans along with numerous fast charging points in Bulgaria. Other regions include, Serbia, Romania, and other countries from the region as well. At the moment, there is no information regarding the company’s sales target in Turkey (Via Motor1).

Emir Tunçyürek, a former consultant of InsideEVs Turkey and co-founder of E-Garaj, will be managing Tesla Turkey’s operations. Back in 2021, around 4,000 electric vehicles were sold in Turkey. While this figure isn’t significant, it was a sizeable growth compared to just 1,600 electric cars being sold back in 2020. As of right now, there are around 7,000 to 8,000 units of electric vehicles that are registered for public use within the nation. However, with Tesla’s entry in the market, we can expect this figure to grow as demand inflates.

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Earlier this week, we covered Apple’s temporary suspension of sales in Turkey following the Turkish lira collapsing against the U.S. dollar and rising economic concerns. A new report has surfaced reporting resumed sales by Apple in Turkey, but with increased product prices.

This past week, the Turkish lira saw a collapse in value against the U.S dollar, which caused Apple to suspend sales of their product in the country. At its worst point, recorded on November 23, the Turkish lira was equivalent to about 0.078 US Dollars. Since then, the value of the currency against the U.S. Dollar has fluctuated and currently sits around 0.080 US Dollars.

According to a new report by MacRumors, Apple has resumed sales of its products in the country by introducing a hike in prices across the board. The data provided by MacRumors lists the increase in Apple product prices as below.

• iPhone 13 Pro Max now starts at 22,999 TL, up from 17,999 TL
• iPhone 13 Pro now starts at 19,999 TL, up from 14,999 TL
• iPhone 13 mini now starts at 13,999 TL, up from 10,999 TL
• iPhone 13 now starts at 14,999 TL, up from 11,999 TL

• Apple Watch Series 7 now starts at 5,399 TL, up from 4,399 TL
• Apple Watch SE now starts at 3,799 TL, up from 3,099 TL
• Apple Watch Series 3 now starts at 2,699 TL, up from 2,199 TL

• 16-inch MacBook Pro now starts at 35,499 TL, up from 28,999 TL
• 14-inch MacBook Pro now starts at 28,999 TL, up from 23,499 TL
• 13-inch MacBook Pro now starts at 17,499 TL, up from 14,999 TL
• 13-inch MacBook Air now starts at 13,499 TL, up from 10,999 TL

• Mac Pro now starts at 79,999 TL, up from 67,449 TL
• 27-inch iMac now starts at 23,999 TL, up from 19,979 TL
• 24-inch iMac now starts at 17,999 TL, up from 14,999 TL
• Mac mini now starts at 9,499 TL, up from 7,899 TL

• AirPods Max now starts at 7,099 TL, up from 5,699 TL
• AirPods Pro now starts at 3,599 TL, up from 2,899 TL
• Third-generation AirPods now starts at 2,499 TL, up from 1,999 TL

• iPad Pro now starts at 10,799 TL, up from 8,599 TL
• iPad Air now starts at 7,999 TL, up from 6,399 TL
• iPad mini now starts at 7,199 TL, up from 5,799 TL
• iPad now starts at 4,799 TL, up from 3,899 TL

According to this data, we see an increase of 3,000 Turkish lira ($242) across the iPhone 13 series except for the iPhone 13 Pro Max variant, which saw a rise of 5,000 lira ($404). MacBook prices rose too, with the MacBook Air and the 13-inch MacBook pro both receiving an increased cost of 3,000 Turkish lira ($242), whereas the 14-inch MacBook Pro and the 16-inch Pro variant received a price hike of 5,000 lira ($404) and 7,000 lira ($565) respectively. Similar price trends were observed across all products offered by Apple in Turkey.

As the economic situation of Turkey remains unstable, we will likely have more updates for you in the near future, so stay tuned.

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Apple has apparently suspended the sales of its products in Turkey temporarily. The news arrives as the nation suffers from an economic crisis, with the region’s currency seeing a sizeable drop.

According to a Reuters report (Via MacRumors), the Turkish lira was a notable drop of 15 percent earlier this week, which worsened the ongoing economic crisis. The issue arrives as the Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan defended the recent rate cuts. As of right now, the official Turkish store of the Cupertino based giant is still live and operating, but users are not allowed to add devices to their virtual carts. The reason for this is due to the volatility in the country.

At the moment, the Turkish lira is equivalent to about 0.078 US Dollars, although, the inflation is around 20 percent as the President refuses to raise interest rates. In other words, the downward trend is expected to continue even further. Unfortunately, Apple’s plans for the region is currently unknown, but assuming that this is just a temporary measure put in place by the iPhone, we can expect stores to reopen soon. Although, with the ongoing economic situation in the region, the “soon” is still pretty uncertain. So stay tuned for more, as we will provide updates if any notable developments surface.

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The Chinese electronics giant, TCL, has opened a factory in Turkey, which has already begun mass production of its smart devices. The factory which is a joint project between TCL and Arçelik, plans to reach a production capacity of 1 million units by 2022.

The factory is borne from the outcome of the Turkish government’s high tariff on the importation of completely assembled mobile phones. The tariff has resulted in phones costing a lot more, which has led to slower sales for phone manufacturers. In order to increase sales, TCL partnered with Arçelik, a Turkish multinational appliances manufacturer that owns Beko and Grundig, to start a factory that assembles its products.

It is reported that the factory currently has an annual production capacity of 450,000 units. However, that number is expected to more than double by next year. At the moment, the factory only churns out units based on Semi Knocked Down (SKD) kits but plans to import Completely Knocked Down (CKD) kits from China once the production line reaches maturity.

TCL began selling its own branded smartphones starting with the TCL 10 series last year. It has added new models this year with the TCL 20 series which is available in Europe and North America. These two markets are important for its success, so it makes sense as to why it has opened a factory in Europe.

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Turkey has just imposed a ban on advertising on certain popular social media platforms. This includes the likes of Twitter, Pinterest, and Periscope, which faced the ban by the country’s Information and Communication Technologies Authority.

According to a Reuters report, the advertising ban arrives after the government recently passed a new social media law. For those unaware, the new law requires social media tech giant firms to appoint a local representative in Turkey. At the moment, Facebook and a few other companies have stated that they would be complying with the local law and appoint such a representative. Although, critics have stated that this move will restrain dissent.

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Similar to Facebook, other major platforms like YouTube have also decided to appoint a representative. The new decision adopted in the Official Gazette went into effect earlier today (19h January 2021). However, Twitter and its live streaming application Periscope have yet to comment on the matter, which is also true for the image sharing app Pinterest. The new law will allow the authorities to remove content from social media platforms rather than just block access to them, like in the past.

This has raised concerns for many regarding the government’s move of restricting content and tightening the grip around online platforms and mainstream media as well. Turkey has already fined companies like Facebook, YouTube, and Twitter for not complying with local laws previously, with failure to comply now would have the firms face a bandwidth slash of 90 percent, which basically completely blocks access to their websites.

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Facebook-owned instant messaging platform WhatsApp recently updated its terms and conditions as well as the privacy policy, detailing the sharing of data with Facebook and other partner companies. The users need to accept the terms by 8th February or else they won’t be able to access the app. Now, this move from the company has put it in trouble.

Competition Board in Turkey has launched an antitrust investigation into Facebook and WhatsApp soon after the company updated its privacy policy. The move comes after concerns were raised by local users, who are now looking at alternatives.

The authorities have also called for the new terms to be “suspended” pending its findings. Now, it would assess whether the policy change violated Turkish competition laws designed to prevent companies from abusing positions of market dominance.

On top of that, several government ministers have asked citizens to use other locally-developed messaging applications instead of WhatsApp. As a result, the BiP application received more than two million new users within 48 hours of the WhatsApp update.

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Globally, rival messaging applications of WhatsApp, such as Signal and Telegram, have witnessed a sudden rise in demand. While Signal doesn’t collect any metadata, Telegram collects much less data than the Facebook-owned service.

WhatsApp has been widely criticized for the updated privacy policy which states that it now reserves the right to share data it collects about users with the broader Facebook network, including Instagram, regardless of whether the user has an account or profile there.

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Some companies have been trying to expand their production capacity and diversity it. In line with that, China-based OPPO and South Koren giant Samsung will start manufacturing smartphones in Turkey.

OPPO entered the Turkish market sometime back and now the company is all set to start production in two facilities, one in Istanbul and another in Northwestern Kocaeli province. It is expected to start operations next month.

It’s noteworthy that the company will be carrying out the entire production process in these two locations and not just the assembly work. As per the report, the necessary procedures have been completed and the company has invested $50 million to start with.

With devices getting manufactured in Turkey, the company will be exporting some of its smartphone models to other regions. The European market seems to be the main focus for this as the company already has a few facilities in Asia.

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On the other hand, South Korea-based Samsung Electronics also plans to start production in Turkey but unlike OPPO, the company won’t set up its own facilities but has hired a sub-contractor in Istanbul.

Just like other major companies, Samsung is also trying to expand its production facilities in other countries as the company focuses on reducing its reliance on Chinese companies. It recently started building a new display factory in India. The company already owns and operates the world’s largest smartphone production plant in Inda.

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Xiaomi, the Chinese smartphone manufacturer, which recently got listed on Hong Kong stock exchange, is reportedly looking to expand its operations to Turkey with Mi Store.

A couple of pictures of a store canvas with Xiaomi logo and “Coming Soon” text have surfaced online, suggesting that the company is gearing up to launch its Mi Store in Turkey. However, this could also be a third-party store or an authorised reseller that will sell Xiaomi devices.

According to the company officials, Xiaomi is planning to enter Turkey and if everything works out fine, it aims to estalbish online presence in the first quarter of 2019 and a physical store in the third quarter of 2019.

Recently, expanding its presence in Europe, the Chinese technology giant opened its first authorized store in Paris. Apart from Paris, the company is officially operating in Spain and Italy. The company is also present in Russia, Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand, and Singapore.

Xiaomi, which has strong presence in its home country as well as in India, where the company is currently leading in terms of market share, is also looking to start selling its smartphones in the United States.

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In terms of smartphone shipments, Xiaomi reportedly shipped 29.3 million units in Q1 of 2018, registering a year-on-year growth of 129 percent.

(Source)

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