Anderson Teixeira used to be the President of Sony Ericsson’s U.S. division until very recently. According to 9to5Mac his new role is Head of Apple’s Latin American division. What’s his C.V. like? Well, he’s from Brazil, has been with Sony Ericsson since the company launched in 2001, he started his career as head of Sony Ericsson Latin America, then moved to Germany to become head of Sony Ericsson Western Europe, and as for his role in the U.S., he’s held that seat since June 2009. In other words, the guy has been in the business for over a decade, has experience in three completely different markets, and he’s obviously talented enough for Apple to consider hiring. Considering Apple recently opened up a factory in Brazil, something tells us that Teixeira’s job will be to make sure that whatever said factory spits out ends up in people’s hands as soon as possible.
What we want to know is why are Apple products so damn expensive in Brazil compared to other countries? According an article on The Next Web that was published in late November, an iPhone 4 8GB sells for $970 unlocked in Teixeira’s native country. That’s more expensive than the 64GB version of the iPhone 4S, which you can buy from Apple’s U.S. store unlocked for $920 all in, meaning taxes and shipping are included. Why the price disparity? We haven’t got the slightest idea, though if we had to venture a guess we’d say it has something to do with hefty import taxes. That explains why Apple would want to open a factory in Brazil in the first place, that and the fact that the country has the largest economy in South America and the second largest in the western hemisphere.
Anyway, expect to hear more about Brazil as Apple ramps up production in their new factory.