“Apple will raise prices for apps sold through its UK app store by a quarter in the latest sign of the higher costs faced by British consumers owing to the weakness in the pound,” Madhumita Murgia reports for The Financial Times.
“Apple will increase prices of the cheapest apps from 79p to 99p — comparable to US app store pricing of 99 cents — but the impact on more expensive gaming apps will be even more marked,” Murgia reports. “For example, the paid version of the popular Super Mario Run will cost £9.99, up from £7.99.”
“‘Price tiers on the App Store are set internationally on the basis of several factors, including currency exchange rates, business practices, taxes and the cost of doing business,’ said an Apple spokesperson. ‘These factors vary from region to region and over time,'” Murgia reports. “‘There have been some significant currency fluctuations in reaction to the Brexit vote. Apple was obliged to move the prices in order to protect its global business,’ said Ben Wood, analyst at CCS Insight.
Read more in the full article here.
MacDailyNews Take: SOP.
Apple’s email to App Store customers:
Dear [Customer First Name],
When foreign exchange rates or taxation changes, we sometimes need to update prices on the App Store. Prices for apps and in-app purchases (excluding subscriptions) will increase in India, Turkey, and the United Kingdom.
Tax laws have changed for customers purchasing apps and in-apps in the following countries:
• India. Effective December 1, 2016, a service tax rate of 14% along with additional levies of 0.5% for Krishi Kalyan Cess (KKC) and Swachh Bharat Cess (SBC) have been introduced.
• Romania. Effective January 1, 2017, value added tax (VAT) rate changed from 20% to 19%.
• Russia. Effective January 1, 2017, a value added tax (VAT) rate of 18% has been introduced.We will administer the collection of taxes from customers and the remittance of taxes to the appropriate tax authority in India and Russia. We already collect and remit taxes for Romania. Your proceeds will be adjusted accordingly, and will be calculated based on the tax exclusive price.
Subscription prices in India, Romania, Russia, Turkey, and the United Kingdom will not be affected. You can change the price of your subscription at any time in iTunes Connect with the option to preserve prices for existing subscribers. For details on price preservation, see Offering Subscriptions.
All changes will be made within the next 7 days, and the Rights and Pricing section of My Apps will be updated. You can also download the updated price tier charts.
If you have any questions, contact us.
Best regards,
The App Store TeamSEE ALSO:
Britain has world’s strongest economy after Brexit – January 6, 2017
Apple raises the minimum price of apps in Europe and Canada, change Russian fees – January 9, 2015
Have they already done that for products? I can see a price increase of this magnitude impacting sales for products more than apps because of the higher value of the goods.
On a side note, the low price of sterling appears to be having a positive effect on the UK economy since exports will be cheaper.
However the other consequence is that cost of imports will be significantly higher and may result in inflation problems.
Except that the UK does not have an export driven economy but is a net importer, so the overall effect of a weaker pound is very likely negative.
A clean Brexit from the mess that calls itself the European Union is far more important than the price of an Apple app. Once the world wakes up to the fact that we (UK) are releasing ourselves from these shackles, the pound will soon start to rise again.
The World has woken up. Why do you think the pound is in the doldrums? And with May aiming for a hard Brexit expect the slide of the pound to continue.
How? other than derivatives what else is there, industry wise for the UK.
“Once the world wakes up to the fact that we (UK) are releasing ourselves from these shackles, the pound will soon start to rise again.”
I don’t even think leave campaigner Boris Johnson has enough wind inside him to raise the currency of a country that produces nothing of significance, has no exports, and has become a nation of shopkeepers with nothing to sell.
By Brexiting… the UK ties itself more closely to the USA. The USA is imposing punitive import taxes on non-USA stuff.
It remains to be seen how the UK will be affected by protectionist policies of political power of president trump.
(in the words of our British friends)
Bloody Highway Robbery! @#$%^&$%$%$
jonyr23 clearly has no knowledge of anything outside of USA. Get a map for starters and see what else is out there.
I guess it’s news when App prices go up due to currency fluctuations. Has anyone seen any news where App prices drop due to currency fluctuations in the other direction?
It has happened before with Apple’s hardware prices coming down due to currency fluctuations, but I can’t remember it happening recently.
When anything ( apps, oil, bananas etc ) is priced in dollars, the price paid in other currencies always fluctuates when that currency changes value compared to the dollar. It’s just a fact of economic life.
It works both ways. I live in Britain and own a lot of shares in Apple, which are obviously priced in US Dollars. The Pound has gone down in value substantially in the last few months, which means that my investment has gone up by a similar amount when converted to Pounds, which is quite handy as it’s time for me to buy a new car.
It’s always nice when currency fluctuations raise the value of stocks in your portfolio. 🙂