do sony have their own exchange rate?
whats this?
$399/£349/�399
Regional prices have always been odd and there are several factors to take in.
1 - Local taxation, US taxes are added at the till as there can not only be state to state variations but also some cities also add their own VAT on top which can have a big range depending on where you live,
In the UK and EU taxes have to be included in the pricing structure.
2 - Currency fluctuations. Companies due to where they are based need to build in some wriggle room on the exchange rate to allow for currency market fluctuations and recently we have seen some very big ones. In the last 10 years we have had 2 USD to the pound slump to 1.5USD. I have seen NZ dollars be anywhere between $4.50 and $2.50 to the pound.
Companies don't want to be constantly shifting prices in line with the markets so they will pick a price according to what they hope the average exchange rate over the next year or so.