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Apple Slashes Australian App Store Prices To Match US
An anonymous reader writes "It's been a long time coming, but Apple has finally readjusted the price of apps in Australia to match pricing in the U.S. While they remain more expensive than in the U.S., premium apps have still received a price-cut, with $8.99, $9.99 and $11.99 apps dropping to $8.49, $9.49 and $10.49, respectively. Movies and music, meanwhile, remain unchanged. In recent months, Apple has come under fire from consumer watchdogs, angry customers and even the Australian Government for its local price markups."
Indeed, this was part of a global adjustment based on the way that the US dollar is traded today.
For the App Store, the international equivalents of the $0.99 apps have changed to the following prices according to MacRumors:
UK: £0.59 -> £0.69
Australia: AU$1.19 -> AU$0.99
Japan: 115 -> 85 Yen
Mexico: $10 -> $12
Switzerland: 1.10Fr -> 1.00Fr
Norway: 6.00Kr -> 7.00Kr
Car analogy time. Well, not an analogy, but a real life example.
A Cadillac CTS-V Coupé costs between 65,000-70,000USD depending on what goodies you pick out. In the UK, the same car will net you 70,000-73,000 GBP.
At today's rate, that's 110,000-120,000USD. Almost TWICE the going price in the US.
Things to take into consideration are the UK VAT of 20%, and whatever anti-pollution taxes are put on such a high performance car. But double up?
Compare this to how the price tag on European cars is the same or lower in the US, but in USD compared to EUR.
She: Hey, are you a traitor? Me: No, I'm atheist.
Remove the tax and the prices are the same.
No, it is not. Even if there was parity between the A$ and US$ (which there is not), $0.99 to $1.19 markup would be a 20% tax. A $1.99 to $2.49 markup would be a 25% tax.
You do have to pay VAT on ebooks though.
Apple are not the only electronics supplier gouging Australians, take a 16Gb Asus transformer Android tablet US price US$399 Australian price US$549. Its so bad now that most Australians with any internet skills are buying their electronics in the USA and paying the shipping costs and are still saving $200 for every $1,000 spent. It gets even worse for laptops, the Australian price for Lenovo thinkpads is nearly twice the US price now.