Despite political instability, economic turmoil and low per capita income, El Salvador has a chain of Apple resellers, including one that looks just like a U.S. mini-store. The Mac Store store at the Galerias shopping mall in the capital city of San Salvador features a glass and stainless steel storefront, blond wood furniture, back-lit wall graphics and stainless steel interior walls. The store even copies the shining, back-lit Apple logo on the store front, set in silver metal above the door. The store and mall cater to a small group of the population who earn more than the average $2,450 annual income–which wouldn’t buy you a Mac Pro there. Check this photo for a view of the Mac Store.
The country seems like an unlikely target for selling Apple computers at retail storefronts. There are few personal computers, few fast and reliable Internet connections, and the country’s 6.8 million residents have little discretionary income.
A 2000/2001 World Bank survey said the number of personal computers was too low for them to obtain a meaningful figure. Yet the country has 10 Apple resellers, according to Apple’s Latin America reseller Web page, including Office Depot and the Almacenes Simán chain, mostly selling iPods and accessories.
Money in the Central American country is concentrated in an upper class. Estimates put almost 60 percent of the country’s wealth in the hands of just 20 percent of the population. At least 20 percent of the country’s residents live in poverty.
The country’s telecommunications system is not well-developed. The phone network was privatized in 1998, and purchased by international companies that have not expanded or improved the system.
Interesting, the country adopted the United States dollar as its official currency in 2001. Both the colon and the dollar are now accepted, but the colon is being phased out.
Gross national income (GNI) per capita as reported by the World Bank (2007) is $2,450 for El Salvador, well below the same figure of all of Latin America ($4,767, or 47% less), and 66 percent less than the worldwide figure ($7,439). The World Bank pegs the United States GNI at $44,970, or almost 20 times that of El Salvador.
Like in other countries, Apple products sell for a premium in El Salvador compared to the United States. For example, the iPod Classic 80 Gb sells for $249 in the United States, but is priced at $325 in El Salvador, or a 30 percent premium. Other prices demonstrate that El Salvador residents pay more than those in the United States:
| Product | U.S. | El Salvador |
Premium |
| iPod nano 8 Gb | $199 | $249 | 25% |
| iMac, 2.0 GHz, 20-inch | $1,199 | $1,414.82 | 18% |
| iMac AppleCare | $169 | $190.97 | 13% |
| Macbook Pro, 15, 2.2 GHz | $1,999 | $2,358.82 | 18% |
| Mac mini, 2.0 GHz | $799 | $942.82 | 18% |
