One Outsider,
There are many misunderstandings and untruths out there about Apple.
There is no price fixing and there is no "Apple Tax". It's simple business economics, you'll find the same applies to non-Apple products too, if you are only buying one or two boxes, then your reseller is not going to be willing to cut their tight margin for you. And the tighter the margin to start with, the more similar the pricing will be across the geographic region (EMEA/APAC), there are countless non-Apple examples of this, so no conspiracy theory needed.
Apple has a history of buying niche technology companies in order to obtain exclusivity on their inventions. Similarly Apple expend much R&D on developing new products, and these frequently mandate expensive manufacturing facilities with costly tooling. Apple also differentiates itself in the way it deals with its supply chain (upfront payments, tight control on quality etc). Not to mention all the marketing etc. All of this business model requires a margin if you're going to make it sustainable.