Apple – the first company to ever be worth more than $3 trillion (yes, with a ‘T’) – has plans to officially raise the prices on the App Store in several countries. Unfortunately, South Africa is one of those unlucky countries, joining the UK, Colombia, Egypt, Hungary, Nigeria and Norway. Hooray.
First petrol, and now the App Store?
According to a note sent out by Apple to developers, the increased prices are set to come into effect on 13 February 2023. Here’s a full list of the updated prices on the Apple Developer site (see page 8 for SA). While the App Store’s prices are increasing in these countries, Uzbekistan is one of the few to receive a decrease in prices.
Apple’s explanation for the changes reads:
“Periodically, we update prices on the App Store in certain regions based on changes in taxes and foreign exchange rates. This is done using publicly available exchange rate information from financial data providers to help ensure prices for apps and in-app purchases stay equalized across all storefronts.”
Later this year, Apple’s new flexible pricing change is also coming to the App Store. This change will allow developers to set prices as low as $30c (R5), as high as $10,000 (R172,000) and anything in between. These changes are only coming throughout the course of 2023, with no official date yet. We’re guessing that Apple wants its prices changed in all of its 175 marketplaces worldwide before introducing the new flexible changes. With last year’s price increase in most of Europe, the flexible pricing change can’t be far off.