iPhone launch prices in South Africa — from 2009 to 2023

The starting price of Apple’s flagship smartphones has more than quadrupled since the company’s first model launched locally.

Since electronics like smartphones are imported from overseas, the severe weakening of the rand has contributed significantly to this increase.

When the iPhone 3GS launched in South Africa, the rand traded between R7 and R8 to the US dollar. In 2023, it has mostly been between R17 and R19.

If one compares the prices of iPhones in the US and South Africa over the years, it is clear that this has weighed heavily on local prices.

The price of the latest Apple flagship smartphone series — the iPhone 15 — starts at R21,999.

That is a whopping 323% higher than the price of the iPhone 3GS — the first iPhone to be available in South Africa — at its launch in 2009.

The iPhone 15 is priced at $799 in the US, excluding VAT. That works out to about R14,413.96 when converted using the exchange rate at the time of its launch.

Therefore, South Africans are paying a R7,585.04 premium — or 53% extra — for the latest iPhone to cover VAT, import taxes, shipping, and foreign exchange costs.

The iPhone 3GS cost $599 on prepaid when it was launched in June 2009 in the US, working out to R4,858.96 at an exchange rate of R8.11 at the time.

In South Africa, it was sold for R5,199, only about R340 more than its US launch price — a 7% premium.

However, it should be noted this model only arrived locally a few months later — when the rand had recovered closer to R7 to the dollar.

Possible factors adding to the SA premium

The difference between US and South Africa pricing could be attributed to hikes in shipping fees, the adjustment of VAT from 14% to 15% from 1 April 2018, and changes in foreign exchange forward-cover costs.

Pertaining to the latter, the rand has weakened significantly and become even more volatile in recent years.

This could make it more expensive for distributors like Core Group to buy forward-cover contracts that help protect them from fluctuating exchange rates.

The table and graph below show how the price of the iPhone has changed in South Africa since Apple’s smartphones first launched locally.

The graph also shows the correlation between the fluctuation in the dollar-to-rand exchange rate and the local price of each year’s iPhone model.

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