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Just what does Apple Inc. have against Canada?

Apple may be one of the most beloved consumer brands in the world, but its products cost more here than they do south of the border despite near parity in the currencies, new services often arrive long after they're launched in the U.S., and then there's the conspicuous absence of the company's iPhone.

Meanwhile, other multinational consumer electronics companies, including Microsoft Corp. and Hewlett-Packard Co., consider Canada a proving ground for new products and services.

• Do you think Apple hates Canada? Answer the poll question at Globetechnology.com

So does Apple hate Canada? It's a question that draws a mixed response from observers — and silence from the company's Cupertino, Calif., headquarters.

Many observers believe Apple's recent record of dealing with the Great White North clearly indicates the company doesn't consider this country a priority.

"When Apple looks out at the world, they look for the best market opportunities — and they don't see that with Canada," says Michelle Warren, an analyst with Info-Tech Research Group of London, Ont.

"Right now, it's a tiny market for Apple and they're not willing to invest their money and their resources into Canada."

Apple executives declined to comment for this story. A spokesman for the company said Apple does not publicly discuss its pricing policies or its strategy toward individual international markets.

While it may appear that Apple holds some sort of grudge against the Canadian market, analysts say the company has been hampered by slow negotiations with Canadian partners, often preventing quick rollouts of Apple services meant to drive sales of its devices.

Apple's iTunes music store was not launched in Canada until nearly four years after the store went online in the United States. And when the service began offering TV shows, negotiations with Canadian networks prevented their distribution through iTunes Canada for more than two years after they went on sale in the U.S.

"In all of these instances, there are negotiations that are going on that require delay in the rollout of hardware," says Josh Martin, a senior analyst with Yankee Group.

"At the end of the day, there are a lot of behind-the-scenes workings that go into these services rolling out. It's not just about flipping a switch … it's about negotiating rights."

That lag in launching often rubs the Canadian contingency of Apple's strong fan base the wrong way, according to John Strikwerda, the publisher of the Kitchener, Ont.-based Apple fan site ehMac.ca.

"Sometimes we Mac fans feel that we play second fiddle to the U.S. because we always seem to have a big long waiting gap," Mr. Strikwerda says.

"But the biggest thing that everyone is chomping at the bit about is the iPhone."

Apple's popular smart phone is only available in the U.S., Britain, France and Germany. Though rumours continue to swirl about a Canadian launch, so far Apple has remained silent on the possibility. Canada's relatively small population and relatively low cellphone penetration rates — when compared to European nations — have likely contributed to the delay.

"Compared to the big U.K. cellphone market and the U.S. consumer market, we're small potatoes," Mr. Strikwerda notes.

But there are a number of other factors working against a Canadian iPhone launch, complicating matters for Apple. Canada has only one carrier capable of providing the necessary GSM (global system for mobile) cellphone infrastructure required to run the iPhone, and Apple remains embroiled in a copyright dispute with Comwave Telecom Inc., a Canadian telecom provider that has used the trademark "iPhone" as part of its voice over Internet protocol (VoIP) telephony marketing since 2004.

Most experts, however, believe that the high rates Canadian telecom providers charge for mobile Internet data transfer plans are the biggest factor keeping the iPhone out of Canada.

"Apple could push this and be a disruptive force in Canada," Ms. Warren says. "But they have to want to do that, and I'm not convinced that they do because they look at Canada and think that the market opportunity for the iPhone is too small."

For many other companies, the U.S. is just too broad a market in which to test new products.

"Canada offers up a U.S.-like model in terms of the closely tied economies … and a lot of the buying similarities are very closely tied," says Geoff Kereluik, vice-president of marketing for Hewlett-Packard (Canada) Co.

"It offers a way of taking a microcosm of the North American landscape and testing it out to determine whether or not it's worth it to do so on a more broad basis in the U.S."

In 2001, Canada became the first international market for Microsoft Corp.'s Xbox video game console, and earlier this year the company chose Canada as its international guinea pig for its Zune portable music player.

"Redmond [Microsoft headquarters in Washington] likes to use Canada as a launching pad because of the learning you can get in terms of how to do international," according to Greg Barber, head of Microsoft Canada's entertainment and devices division.

He says it's cost efficient to include Canadian rollout plans from the beginning of a product's creation because it forces developers to think both internationally and to account for languages other than English.

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Even though their currencies are within a couple of cents of parity, Apple's products and software cost Canadian consumers anywhere from 5 per cent to nearly 40 per cent more than their American counterparts pay.

MacBook Air and MacMini

The company's new ultra-slim MacBook Air costs $1,899 from Apple's Canadian store, while in the U.S., it's listed at $1,799 (U.S.). Apple's Mac mini computer sells for $599 (U.S.) but Canadians pay $649 (Canadian). Even its .Mac online storage service, a software-free Web product, costs 10 per cent more in Canada — $99 (U.S.) for the single version versus $109 (Canadian), and $179 (U.S.), as opposed to $199 (Canadian), for the family version. Apple's standard version of Microsoft's Office suite costs $399 (U.S.) and $549 (Canadian).

iPhone

Apple's touch screen cellphone was officially announced at the company's MacWorld event in January, 2007. It went on sale in the U.S. on June 29, 2007, on AT&T's wireless network. On Nov. 9, the iPhone went on sale in Britain through O2 and with T-Mobile in Germany. French Apple fans had their iPhone launch on Nov. 29. No Canadian launch date has been announced.

iTunes

Apple's iTunes online music store was introduced in the U.S. in January, 2001, although the service remained unavailable in Canada for nearly four years until Dec. 2, 2004. The U.S. site began selling videos in October, 2005, including TV episodes of Desperate Housewives and Lost, but the Canadian store only began selling television shows in December, 2007.

Content

There are about 55 television shows available in the Canadian iTunes store, mostly domestic titles including CBC's Little Mosque on the Prairie and CTV's Corner Gas, compared with about 500 shows in the U.S. from more than 50 networks. In January Apple chief executive officer Steve Jobs announced a movie rental service through the U.S. iTunes store, which is unavailable in Canada.