Global software giant Adobe has slapped a substantial premium on Australian prices for its latest Creative Suite 5 suite launched this week when compared to equivalent US prices for the same software.

The company’s Australian software store currently lists the full CS5 version of Photoshop as costing from AU$1,168, with an upgrade licence costing from AU$337. However, in the US, the same software will cost residents there just US$699, or AU$757.48 with international currency conversion. The upgrade will cost US$199 or AU$215.65.

There is an even bigger markup for those who want to purchase CS5 Master Collection, which includes all of Adobe’s software — although more focused suites around the print and web design industries are also available.

In Australia, CS5 Master Collection will cost AU$4,344 for the full edition, and AU$1,503 for the upgrade edition. In the US, the same software will cost US$2,599 (AU$2,816.45) for the full edition — more than AU$1,500 less. The upgrade edition will cost US$899 (AU$974.22) — more than AU$500 less.

Adobe spokespeople weren’t available to comment immediately on the pricing situation, although the company is understood to be holding a launch press event for the software in Sydney, which Delimiter was unable to attend this afternoon due to time constraints.

However, the pricing situation mirrors the vendor’s approach when it launched the previous Creative Suite 4 line in September 2008. At the time, the company’s country manager, Peter McAlpine, told ZDNet.com.au the “estimated sale prices” didn’t necessarily represent local street pricing.

The pricing has the potential to raise the chances of Australians buying the software online from US resellers and then shipping it Down Under or pirating it — a pre-release version of the software has already made it onto BitTorrent site the Pirate Bay.

In a statement, Adobe’s Pacific marketing manager Calum Russell said the region was home to “very active and world-renowned developer and creative communities”, especially in Australia and New Zealand.

“The launch of CS5 will be significant for our markets. The attention it’s already received ahead of launch has been astounding and we expect this to continue,” he added. “We’re hosting a series of roadshows at the end of April and throughout May in Australia and New Zealand to reach out to our developer and creative communities in nine cities across Australia and New Zealand, and we’re anticipating a strong turnout for those events.”

Creative Suite 5 boasts more than 250 new features, according to Adobe.

For example, the InDesign page layout tool has new interactive documents functionality and enhanced support for electronic reader devices. Photoshop has received a boost with better edge detecting technology. Premiere Pro includes an NVIDIA graphics-accelerated playback engine. The Dreamweaver web design software now supports popular content management systems Drupal, Joomla and WordPress.

In addition, Photoshop, Premiere Pro and After Effects are now native 64-bit applications on both the Mac and Windows platforms. For the full list of added features, check Adobe’s web site.

Image credit: Adobe

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1. jeff
   Posted 13/04/2010 at 3:49 pm | Permalink | Reply

   wow, adobe raping loyal australian customers again, who would have thought?

   • Renai LeMay
     Posted 13/04/2010 at 4:58 pm | Permalink | Reply

     hey Jeff, I’ve spoken with Adobe, they are hoping to get a response on this shortly, stay tuned!

2. David
   Posted 13/04/2010 at 5:29 pm | Permalink | Reply

   “Peter McAlpine, told ZDNet.com.au the “estimated sale prices” didn’t necessarily represent local street pricing.”

   The Adobe online stores represent the exact price they sell the products as a digital download though. The prices are actually listed in US$ even on the australian site, and they are about 30% higher than the EXACT SAME DIGITAL DOWNLOAD from the US store.

   Its the same thing that happens on steam, companys decide that Australia should pay more, just because we have always paid more even though the Dollar is almost even.

   Why not just list the price in US$ and have it the same for everywhere in the world?

   • Renai LeMay
     Posted 13/04/2010 at 10:17 pm | Permalink | Reply

     I agree David, I get hit with the inflated Steam prices also. I fail to see how Adobe can possibly get away with charging hundreds of dollars more (or more than $1,500, in the case of the Master Collection) for the exact same product simply because I have an Australian IP address.

     I put that exact question to them this afternoon; apparently they are coming back with an answer tomorrow. I’m so tired of this crap, you see it from a number of vendors.

3. Anonymous
   Posted 15/04/2010 at 8:53 pm | Permalink | Reply

   Anyone who has any sense will buy the products from the cheapest location, whether physical media or digital download.

   We would then have no need for people like Calum Russell to try and justify these prices.

4. Sam Moffatt
   Posted 17/04/2010 at 8:56 pm | Permalink | Reply

   It isn’t just Australia that is feeling this, the UK also feels this pain on almost similar scales:
   http://www.zdnet.co.uk/news/it-at-work/2010/04/12/uk-users-pay-a-premium-for-adobe-cs5-40088600/

   Depressing really.

   • Renai LeMay
     Posted 19/04/2010 at 9:52 am | Permalink | Reply

     True Sam — I remember it was also the same problem in the UK and Australia when CS4 was released.

5. John
   Posted 05/05/2010 at 3:10 pm | Permalink | Reply

   Its been weeks.. have they come back with an answer yet? It’s ridiculous!

   • Renai LeMay
     Posted 05/05/2010 at 6:48 pm | Permalink | Reply

     Yup, the response is here:

     http://delimiter.com.au/2010/04/15/australian-cs5-pricing-adobe-responds/

6. By Apple hikes Aussie Final Cut Pro X prices | Delimiter on 22/06/2011 at 12:22 pm

   [...] Adobe has also come under fire over the issue in the past, with its flagship Creative Suite (including Photoshop) usually costing Australians hundreds of dollars more in real terms than they would pay overseas — despite the software selling through the same online ordering platform. [...]

7. By Labor MP wants ACCC enquiry into Aussie tech tax | Delimiter on 18/08/2011 at 2:19 pm

   [...] marked up its Office 365 product in Australia when it launched several months ago, and Adobe, which has regularly marked up its Creative Suite products substantially upon launch in Australia, describing some of the prices as [...]

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