DailyTech - Update: Adobe CEO Dodges Questions on Overpricing in Australia

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Software Update: Adobe CEO Dodges Questions on Overpricing in Australia
Shane McGlaun (Blog) - February 14, 2013 2:00 PM

19 comment(s) - last by Initium.. on Feb 17 at 10:55 PM

Adobe CEO doesn't want to talk about huge Australian pricing discrepancies

A video has turned up on YouTube that shows adobe CEO Shantanu Narayen repeatedly dodging a question directly asked about Adobe's huge price discrepancies for software in Australia compared to other parts of the world. The person on the video asking the question repeatedly asks why Australians are charged as much is AU$1400 more for traditional software delivered over the internet than people in the United States.

This is a common complaint by Australian users who have long complained that they are price gouged by major companies such as Apple, Adobe, and Microsoft. In fact, pricing is such a source of contention within Australia that executives from Adobe, Microsoft, and Apple have been summoned to appear before Australian Parliament to answer questions specifically about pricing.

All three of these companies had previously refused to appear before Parliament.

In the video, the Adobe CEO continually dodges multiple questions about the Creative Suite and instead talks about Adobe's Creative Cloud offering. Adobe did recently reduce the price of its Creative Cloud subscription service from AU$62.99 to AU$49.99 matching prices in the United States.

Apparently, that price matching did not extend to people who want to purchase the Creative Suite as a download.

Updated 2/14/2013 @ 2PM EST
News.com.au reports that it's actually cheaper for Australians to purchase a roundtrip ticket from Australia to Los Angeles to obtain a U.S version of Adobe Creative Suite.

Source: YouTube