To purchase the latest iPhone, the average South African would have to work for more than a month and put all that money earned towards the new gadget.
This is according to a study by Web site aggregator Picodi, which looks into how affordable the new iPhone XS 64GB is in 42 countries, including South Africa.
The analysis was based on the local prices of the new iPhone in these countries and publicly available data on average wages for the year 2017 or the last period accessible.
For SA, the average gross wage in the country (according to data from Statistics South Africa) is R19 858 per month. The iPhone XS 64GB has been priced at R21 999, which means it would take 26.9 days for an average South African to earn enough to buy the new iPhone.
"Of course, assuming that the other living costs would be zero," says Picodi in a statement.
Apple announced the range of iPhones mid last month, introducing three new smartphones: the 5.8-inch iPhone XS, 6.5-inch iPhone XS Max and 6.1-inch iPhone XR.
The new range officially went on sale in SA last Friday. Pricing starts at R21 999 for the iPhone XS 64GB, rising to R31 999 for the top of the range iPhone XS Max 512GB.
Other models will cost R24 999 for the iPhone XS 256GB, R29 999 for the iPhone XS 512GB, R23 999 for the iPhone XS Max 64GB, and R26 999 for the iPhone XS Max 256GB.
The iStore, one of the official Apple distributors in SA, has not given any indication as to when or if the 'cheaper' iPhone XR will come to SA and how much it will cost.
Of the 42 countries in the Picodi study, SA was placed 30, above Greece by a day and below Portugal by less than a fraction of a day.
"You could suppose the best average wage/price ratio would be in the US, the most important Apple market. However, it turns out that the ones who would be able to afford Apple's newest product the fastest are people in other developed countries and the UAE."
Coming in first was Switzerland, where it would take the average citizen 5.1 days to earn enough money to buy the smartphone. In Luxembourg, it would take 6.9 days, Norway 7.5, and the UAE 7.6 days.
In the US, Australia, Japan, Canada, Saudi Arabia and Sweden, it would take an average of eight or nine days.
It would take the longest amount of time to earn enough money to buy a new iPhone in the Philippines, where residents would have to work for 156.6 days.
The only other African country surveyed was Nigeria, which was ranked second to last, taking the average citizen 91.2 days to earn enough.
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