South Africa’s Apple price war: Asbis vs. Core Group

Apple fans in South Africa can now benefit from lower prices with Asbis, the country’s new official Apple distributor. Compared to Core Group’s iStore, Asbis offers better pricing on a range of Apple products. While Asbis’s B2B online shop lists lower suggested retail prices for 18 out of 30 popular items, it’s important to note that these products are only available to registered businesses. Asbis’s entry into the market could challenge Core Group’s long-standing pricing practices.

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By Hanno Labuschagne

The prices of iPhones, Macs, and other Apple products from South Africa’s new official Apple distributor, Asbis, compete well with those of the retail chain owned by the country’s previous sole distributor, Core Group.

MyBroadband first established that Asbis Group would become South Africa’s second official Apple distributor in April 2024.

Asbis is a leading-value distributor in dozens of countries around the world. It employs 2,500 and serves 20,000 B2B customers in 60 countries, with subsidiaries in 30 countries.

The company is the official distributor of Apple products in 11 countries of the former Commonwealth of Independent States.

Before Asbis entered the local market, Core Group had been the exclusive Apple distributor in South Africa for around two decades.

Apple product buyers have often accused the company of inflated prices, particularly when compared to Apple’s prices in the US and Europe.

The company has dismissed these concerns and maintained local consumers do not consider import duties, forward cover, and other costs when comparing prices.

Core Group owns South Africa’s most recognisable Apple product retailer, iStore, and holds a large stake in Digicape, another well-known Apple-specialised retailer.

iStore’s branding and interior designs are very similar to Apple’s own stores, which has led many customers to mistakenly assume Core’s stores are operated directly by the US tech giant.

Core distributes Apple products to other third-party retailers — including Takealot, Avo, Incredible, and Makro.

In theory, Asbis’s entry could lead to better prices for consumers because it offers an alternative to Core.

Asbis also operates its own iSpace-branded stores in several countries.

We asked the company whether it plans to introduce these stores in South Africa and what resellers it had signed up in South Africa but did not receive comment by the time of publication.

It is also unclear whether Asbis’s agreement with Apple extends to individual parts, which could help bring down the prices of Apple product repairs in South Africa.

Asbis retail prices are generally cheaper than iStore

MyBroadband compared Asbis’s pricing with Core Group’s main channel for iPhone sales — iStore — to see how they compared.

Asbis offers a business-to-business (B2B) online shop where approved resellers can buy products. The listings of these products include suggested retail prices.

Core Group does not have a publicly-facing B2B shop, which is why we used iStore pricing for our comparison.

Out of 30 popular Apple products, Asbis’s suggested prices were generally lower than the iStore’s. Eighteen products were more affordable from Asbis, and 12 were cheaper from iStore.

However, it is important to emphasise that Asbis’s products cannot be bought by individuals but are only available to registered businesses.

It is also unclear exactly how much these businesses will need to pay Asbis for its products, although its suggested retail pricing likely factors in a reasonable profit margin.

The table below compares the prices of 30 Apple products on the Asbis B2B shop with iStore’s consumer pricing.

Apple product price comparisonProductAsbis iStore AirPods (2nd gen)R2,929R2,999AirPods Pro (2nd gen)R5,669R5,999Apple 27-inch Studio Display with tilt-adjustable standR54,279R49,799Apple 20W USB-C power adapterR460R499Apple AirTagR825R749Apple AirTag 4-packR2,850R2,699Apple Lighting to USB-C 1m cableR550R599Apple Magic keyboard with numpadR3,125R3,129Apple Pencil ProR3,370R3,499Apple TV 4KR3,349R3,599Apple Watch SER6,280R6,399Apple Watch Ultra 2R20,989R20,999Apple Watch Series 9R10,429R10,299iMac 24-inch M3 256GBR33,699R33,799iPad Pro 13-inch M4 2TBR58,299R51,799iPad Air 11-inch M2 128GBR13,499R13,399iPad Mini 6 64GBR11,199R11,899iPhone 13 128GBR14,142R12,999iPhone 12 64GBR12,564R12,499iPhone 14 128GBR16,894R15,999iPhone 15 128GBR19,647R17,999iPhone 15 Plus 256GBR25,151R25,999iPhone 15 Pro 512GBR33,407R34,199iPhone 15 Pro Max 1TBR41,644R42,799Magic Keyboard for iPad Pro 13-inch M4R8,159R8,149Mac Studio M2 UltraR89,799R96,999MacBook Air 13-inch M2 256GBR22,499R19,999MacBook Pro 16-inch M3 512GBR56,099R58,499Mac Mini M2R13,499R14,499Magic MouseR1,910R1,999Number of products that are cheaper 18 12