Slashdot Mirror
Apple App Store Prices Rise in UK, India and Turkey (bbc.com)
Apple is to put up the price it charges for apps in the UK, India and Turkey. From a report on BBC: UK costs will numerically match those of the US, meaning that a program that costs $0.99 will now be 99p. That represents a 25% rise over the previous currency conversion, which was 79p. "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," it said. "These factors vary from region to region and over time." The rise will also affect in-app purchases but not subscription charges. The cost of a $0.99 app will become 80 rupees in India, representing a 33% rise from the previous price of 60 rupees.
With the Pound now trading at around $1.23, and the UK app store incorporating VAT at 20% while the US store doesn't include sales tax in the list priced, this sounds about right. Certainly the "UK premium" is nothing like the 50-100% that wasn't uncommon a decade or so ago.
Apple look simply to be pricing in the devaluation in Sterling that has occurred since the beginning of Brexit. I'm not sure anyone can find much to fault with that. The real question is how quickly Apple will move to reduce prices if/when the Pound recovers?
Well that just makes no sense, whatsoever.
[citation needed]
its basically charging arbirtarily different prices in different regions and pocketing the difference.
It costs different amounts of money just to do business in different regions. Why should the prices not reflect this? With their stronger consumer protection laws, it has to be more expensive to do business in the UK.
"You're right," Fisheye says. "I should have set it on 'whip' or 'chop.'"
Careful, you risk summoning the appy apps guy.
Do the developers still get paid 70% with these increased prices?
I assume the percentage is the same, but, interestingly, if you are not a US developer with mainly US sales, the currency conversions Apple does further reduce this. For example I am UK based and I have a little app which sells mainly in the US, and I end up closer to 60% than 70% after the conversions. I'd tell you more precisely, but it varies a bit per month and it is hard to calculate because the reports are a bit convoluted in that part (at least they were the last time I checked, almost a year ago). If it was not a hobby app and I actually expected to make a living off of it, I'd be rather annoyed... Still not the worst part of the Apple ecosystem...
Violence is the last refuge of the incompetent. Polar Scope Align for iOS
Wales was one of the most pro Brexit regions of the UK in the referendum, which might seem strange because they benefit more than most from EU grants and very few immigrants want to go there.
Scotland was strongly anti-Brexit but it's too late for them to vote to stay in the EU. If they manage to swing another Indyref, it won't be in place before we've left the EU, so they'll need to reapply.
All I want is a secure system where it's easy to do anything I want. Is that too much to ask ~~ Randall Munroe
It's got nothing to do with corporate arrogance and everything to do with boosting sales numbers. The ".99" thing is psychological and is connected with how the optical cortex processes the sequence of numbers we see into a value that we then equate to. Apparently, enough extra people will purchase an item priced at $x.99 instead of ${x+1}.00 than is necesssary to offset the $0.01 loss of profits, and where people are becoming aware of this marketing technique the simple trick of using .98 supposedly tricks the brain and brings the sale numbers right back up again.
UNIX? They're not even circumcised! Savages!
That's only four red rupees. It's rather easy to get even with the wooden sword.
_That's_ why revenues soared 40% as they told us in the other article here.
Wales was one of the most pro Brexit regions of the UK in the referendum, which might seem strange because they benefit more than most from EU grants and very few immigrants want to go there.
It's doubly strange. Not only do they benefit the most from the EU, but Brexit was a plan by Tories for Tories, and the obvious side effect has been to give a lot of extra power to the Tory party. Historically the Tory party has not been good to Wales.
I really don't get the mindset which concludes that giving a whole lot of extra power to a bunch of toffs who hate you, is somehow a good idea.
SJW n. One who posts facts.
If you really think this change has anything to do with their actual business cost, I have a bridge you may be interested in.
Oh yes, yes I think it does. I think the former pricing had nothing to do with actual business cost, but what the market would bear during the introductory period.
"You're right," Fisheye says. "I should have set it on 'whip' or 'chop.'"
its basically charging arbirtarily different prices in different regions and pocketing the difference. I am sure a US app maker will still get paid in USD.
As an app developer, I can correct your incorrect assumptions.
Apps on the app store come in different "price tiers" from free, to $0.99, to $1.99 etc. Apple translates these prices for countries other than the USA. Mostly this is done by multiplying or dividing by the exchange rate, adding VAT where necessary, and rounding to a nice even amount (if they calculated the correct price should be £2.04 or £1.94, then the actual price will be £1.99, for example).
When the customer pays, Apple removes the VAT which they pay to the tax office of that country, takes their 30% or 15% cut, and then converts the money into the currency of the developer, and that's the amount paid.
Apple also tries to keep the prices constant for long times - they could have done the UK change six months ago, so for six months UK citizens actually got a rebate.
The users pay a fair price - each user pays an amount so that the same money ends up in the developer's pockets. So users are not "fucked". And developers get roughly the same amount of money wherever you buy an app. Right now, developers got 20% less if you bought in the UK instead of the USA, for example, and that has now been corrected.
It's got nothing to do with corporate arrogance and everything to do with boosting sales numbers. The ".99" thing is psychological and is connected with how the optical cortex processes the sequence of numbers we see into a value that we then equate to. Apparently, enough extra people will purchase an item priced at $x.99 instead of ${x+1}.00 than is necesssary to offset the $0.01 loss of profits, and where people are becoming aware of this marketing technique the simple trick of using .98 supposedly tricks the brain and brings the sale numbers right back up again.
"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,"
According to TFA, this has nothing to do with psychological factors of selling cheap shit to the masses. At all.
The ultimate factor driving price is demand. When you have plenty of that, you can clearly afford to be arrogant.
Correction: users *are* fucked. Just not by Apple in this case.
++ Say to Elrond "Hello.".
Elrond says "No.". Elrond gives you some lunch.
Funny that. Innovation also seems to have moved to the same cycle.
So it's a point of principle to get boned by the Tories? How did that make sense?
SJW n. One who posts facts.
Wait, all this is doing is shifting VAT and taxes from the developer's burden to the purchaser?
Why the fuck did the article not say this? I already know why, because making the taxes fair would not generate outrage and clicks. I have been duped.
I'm a good cook. I'm a fantastic eater. - Steven Brust
Apps on the app store come in different "price tiers" from free, to $0.99, to $1.99 etc. Apple translates these prices for countries other than the USA. Mostly this is done by multiplying or dividing by the exchange rate, adding VAT where necessary, and rounding to a nice even amount (if they calculated the correct price should be £2.04 or £1.94, then the actual price will be £1.99, for example).
In what plane of existence is 1.99 "a nice even amount"?
This mate is why remain lost, and the pollsters, the politicians,
So, remain lost because the leavers WANTED to take sides in battle of the Toffs? Tell me, which Eton toff did you back in the fight? Johnson or Cameron? You wanted to send the politicians a message by handing them more power, specifically giving a bunch of Tory Toffs precisely what they want?
I think it's indeed fair to say I truly don't understand the mindset that it's somehow a point of principle to keep shoving even more silver spoons up the Tories uh... mouths.
the banks and the market speculators all got it so badly wrong.
You do realise Brexit hasn't happened yet, right?
SJW n. One who posts facts.
No - there is no change in where the burden of taxation/VAT lies. Apple have always incorporated sales tax into app store prices.
This is a correction owing to currency devaluations.
The UK Pound is now worth about 25% less than it was six months ago when compared to the US Dollar, therefore they've corrected the GBP prices of apps to reflect the current exchange rate.
Ok I guess I am confused. I though the article says that they are "synchronizing prices" such that a .99 USD app in the US will cost .99 GPB in the UK.
I'm a good cook. I'm a fantastic eater. - Steven Brust