Earlier in the week, we brought you word that Apple intends to raise the prices in its iTunes App Store in select regions so that those will be on par with changes in foreign exchange rates. The five affected regions will include Australia, India, Indonesia, Turkey, and South Africa, while Israel and New Zealand will see select price tiers decreased. That day has arrived, in Australia at least, where apps that used to cost A$0.99 on the Australian iTunes App Store will now be 30% more expensive at A$1.29.
This particular change has also affected other pricing tiers, where A$1.99 apps are now more expensive at A$2.49 a pop. Apple did not report on how high the percentage of increase will be, and I guess here we are with the 30% markup rate, tops. The more expensive the app’s base price is, the lower the percentage increase, for instance, a A$4.49 app will now cost A$4.99, which is an 11% increase.
The price increase is applicable to Mac, iPad, iPhone and iPod touch apps. It remains to be seen if iTunes music and other Apple product prices will be affected some time down the road. What do you think of this move to restore parity and balance because of currency rate fluctuations?