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Australians Set To Pay 50% More For Apps After Apple Price Spike (heraldsun.com.au)
SlappingOysters writes: Within 36-hours the price of Apple apps is set to increase in Australia, Sweden and Indonesia. It will bring the price of buying an app out of alignment with the value of the Australian dollar, and leave the country's Apple fans paying 50% more for their iOS software than their American counterparts. It's unfortunate timing, with the recent launch of the iPhone 6s and the upcoming fourth generation of Apple TV.
It's actually possible to self host a corporate app store. The apps expire once per year, but it's a lot less restrictive. I've worked on a self-updating iOS app for a client that they self host for their internal workers. Even though the app self updates, they still have to uninstall version-N and install version-N+1 each new calendar year.
It is simply the us price converted to aud, plus GST. The Aussie dollar has dropped from parity to 0.75/USD.
The title of the parent post is totally misleading and shows a clear sign of not having passed basic algebra. Australians are going to pay 15% more for their apps and not 50%.
First $1 AU = 0.70 US. Taking currency conversion into consideration, this means that a 0.99 App in the US store would cost $1.29 AU.
Next, we see that that $1.29 apps are being raised to $1.49. That's a $0.20 AU or a 15% price hike.
Converting that back to US, we see that the equivalent cost is $1.09 US vs the original $0.99 US. This $0.10 US difference equates to an actual 10% markup between the AU and the US markets.
I would have to assume that Apple is passing on their operational overhead costs in the pricing of apps.
Something to think about - developers are permitted to set the price of their apps. In the US, other than free, the minimum cost is $0.99 as that is the lowest tier that Apple permits. Should developers be forced to take a pay cut because they are selling in a market with a poor currency exchange rate or should they be permitted to sell their wares at a specific price they deem appropriate?
Given that Apple is going to reintroduce a $0.99 tier in those markets, should developers be expected to sell their apps at a 30% discount in the US as well? After the Apple tax of 30% on goods sold in the store, the developer makes a $0.50 on an item they originally sold for $0.99. Is that fair?
If developers are willing to take such a hit on their profits at the benefit of maybe selling more at the lower price and gaining a PR boost, then we will see them moving to the $0.99 plan in those poorer performing markets.
Australia would probably benefit from an influx of skilled people. It's got the space,
Australia may have space, but the immigrants all flock to Sydney, which most certainly does _not_ have space. Its now impossible to buy a decent family home within cooee of the city for under a million dollars. Other major cities are not much better. None of the immigrants want to go to Woopwoop, Tasmania.