Apple hits UK App Store with 20 percent price hike
by Steven Mostyn - Jul 15 2011, 06:16
Thanks for that. Image: Apple.
Considering the recent commercial success attributed to the iPhone smartphone and the iPad tablet, you’d think device maker Apple wouldn’t be short a bob or two—however, a sudden round of price hikes on the App Store seems to suggest otherwise.
Surely Apple must be struggling, why else would Jobs & Co. expect app buyers to dig even deeper into their pockets to enjoy byte-size distractions on their mobile devices?
Plain and simple greed, you say? Well, we find that extremely hard to believe.
Described by Apple as “minor” price adjustments, yesterday’s price changes affect App Store and Mac App Store platforms outside the United States, which is lucky for Apple’s home market, but what about everyone else?
According to a roundup put together by MacRumors, prices have increased for prospective app buyers in the United Kingdom, Norway and Mexico, while those in Australia, Switzerland and Japan have actually received a smattering of reductions.
As for Apple’s apparent reasoning, a spokesperson has said the price jumps—which have reached around 20 percent in the United Kingdom—have come into effect due to fluctuations in international exchange rates.
The current minimum purchase price on the U.K. App Store stands at 0.69 GBP, which is a jump of 10 pence over the old minimum. It’s also worth noting that adjusted price equates to 1.11 USD over the pond, where app users are paying a minimum of 0.99 USD.
Hmm, perhaps Apple is looking to boost its coffers as it prepares to begin construction of a brand new UFO-shaped office campus in California. Such things don’t build themselves, you know.
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