Canberra, Australia - Apple's iPod is most costly to purchase in Brazil and India, and is cheapest in Canada, Hong Kong and Japan, according to a purchasing power index created by Australia's Commonwealth Bank, based on January 2007 prices for the 2GB iPod nano.

Relatively speaking, the same iPod nano costs $327.71 in Brazil and $222.27 in India, compared with a price tag of $144.20 in Canada; $147.35 in Hong Kong; $147.63 in Japan; and $149 in the U.S.

"The results of the CommSec iPod index won't provide joy to U.S. policy makers. They want the Chinese yuan to appreciate, not fall in value against the U.S. dollar," Craig James, chief equities economist at Commonwealth Bank, told Reuters.

"Interestingly, especially with freight costs close to zero, China is middle-ranked, in terms of global prices, at $179.84."

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