MacStories noted that Apple began changing the tiers at which apps are priced on the iTunes App Store for several countries in Europe. The lowest price on the App Store for many of the countries (listed below) was once €0.79, but it has been bumped up to €0.89 this evening.
- Italy
- Spain
- Netherlands
- Portugal
- Greece
- Poland
- Germany
- France
- Belgium
- Austria
- Czech Republic
- Denmark
- Luxembourg
- Hungary
- Russia
[tweet https://twitter.com/dannysapples/status/261602982859255808]
The report further noted that Apple might have raised its commission levels to 40 percent—when it was once 30 percent (countries, like the U.S., are still 30 percent). MacStories offered some possible explanations:
It needs to be mentioned, however, that Apple’s commission was already somewhat close to 40% before — around 35% and 36%. Now it is fixed at 40% and gets rounded to 41% in some cases, it seems. There are several factors to consider for this pricing change: Euro isn’t as strong as a year ago, so exchange rates have changed significantly in the past 12 months. Moreover, in countries like Italy and Netherlands, VAT has changed from 20% to 21% and 19% to 21%, respectively — something Apple has to account for in direct sales to customers.
[tweet https://twitter.com/samgunss/status/261595229906419712]
Furthermore, Apple notified developers this evening in the countries listed below that their pricing has been changed from USD to their respected currency.
- Russia: Ruble
- Turkey: Lira
- India: Rupee
- Indonesian: Rupiah
- Israel: New Shekel
- Saudi Arabia: Riyal
- South Africa: Rand
- UAE: Dirham
