The average Czech consumer will have to work 22 days to buy the new iPhone 14

Czech consumers received some unpleasant news earlier this week when the new iPhone was revealed by Apple along with a significant price increase. The iPhone 14, available from next Friday, September 16, starts at 26,490 crowns, up from a starting price of 22,990 crowns for the iPhone 13.

The latest iPhone will cost Czech consumers about 15 percent more than the previous version, compared to no price increase in the US and Canada, a nine percent increase in the UK, and an increase of around ten percent in most Eurozone countries.

But when local salaries and soaring inflation are factored into the equation, the cost of an iPhone in the Czech Republic in 2022 becomes even more pronounced.

According to the online discount service Picodi's 2022 iPhone Index, a Big Mac Index-style comparison of purchasing power across different countries, the average Czech will have to work longer to earn enough to buy an iPhone than consumers in most other countries.

When mean salaries are taken into account, the average Czech consumer will have to work a total of 21.8 days to earn a new iPhone 14, right between consumers in Slovenia (21.7 days) and China (22.0 days). Of the 45 countries in the Index, only 16 need to work longer to pay off an iPhone.

Still, the Czech Republic rates better than two of its neighbors: consumers in Poland (27.6 days) and Slovakia (29.9 days) both need to longer than those in the Czech Republic. The average German (10.4 days) and Austrian (11.4 days), meanwhile, will pay off an iPhone twice as fast as a Czech.

Czech consumers will need to work longer this year than in 2021, when an average of 21.4 days were needed to afford an iPhone.

Despite the price increase, however, Czech are still better off than they were in 2018, the first year the index was produced, when it took 26.2 days to earn enough to buy an iPhone.

Consumers in Switzerland need to work the fewest days to be able to afford an iPhone, at just 4.6. The United States (5.7 days) and Australia (6.1 days) follow in the top three. Those in Turkey, meanwhile, have to work the longest to afford an iPhone, at a whopping 146.7 days.

While the iPhone Index is largely a comparison of salaries in countries across the globe, it's also interesting to note the price disparities in each market.

Apple pointed to the strengthening dollar as justification for the price increase outside of North America, but the new iPhone 14 starts at about $1,085 in the Czech Republic (26,490 crowns), compared to just $800 in the United States, a difference of about 35 percent.

Due to the revenue Apple makes from the App Store and other ancillary products, the company is incentivized to make the iPhone as cheap as possible for consumers with more disposable income who are likely to purchase additional products through the device.