Sidebar Sidebar
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.

Apple Adjusts International App Store Prices

rhombus said:
1. Why would Mervyn King base the UK's monetary policy on some random guys from the internet?

2. Why would higher interest rates help the UK economy and/or make inflation lower?
Click to expand...

JonR356 is right, however there is an up side of having a weaker economy in that it helps your countries exports.

Answer 2: Higher interest rates do tend to prop up a currencies value as they tend to reduce inflation. Higher rates tend to make inflation lower because the cost of borrowing goes up.
 
koobcamuk said:
I have a feeling that the people buying apps, have almost zero choice in the currency of their country.

It's not John Public that changes the currency of the country, is it?

You should also not use the apostrophe as you have with "it's" in this case. English is the language of this forum, no embrace its correct usage.
Click to expand...

quite funny, as you have also made an error noW... and here in belgium we have to learn 4 languages. Dutch, French, German and English. When you are able to speak four language without any errors, please reply

Ooh yeah, Those are the official mandatory languages, I also speak spanish and latin, so when you talk six language, you can reply
 
Does this mean the £65 Mac App Store card in the student promo will also increase? Of course not, how silly of me!

I've still not worked out the logic behind this...

$99 Apple TV = £101
$100 Mac App Store Card = £65
 
RJCP said:
1st: i'm not british and
2nd: I don't read the sun.
3rd: the problems in the UK aren't NEARLY as severe as in other Eurozone countries. If they were that severe the pound wouldn't be stronger than the euro as it is now. The golden days when the pound was worth 1,5€ may be gone, but it is still a stronger currency than the Euro.
Click to expand...

The strength of a currency is not a reflection of how strong an economy is.

The Chinese have a very strong economy but their currency is not strong. In fact their weak currency helps them by helping increase their exports.
 
richardw said:
JonR356 is right, however there is an up side of having a weaker economy in that it helps your countries exports.

Answer 2: Higher interest rates do tend to prop up a currencies value as they tend to reduce inflation. Higher rates tend to make inflation lower because the cost of borrowing goes up.
Click to expand...

Correct. However on point 1, the UK is a net importer. It imports more than it exports:

http://www.statistics.gov.uk/cci/nugget.asp?id=199
 
JonR356 said:
2. Interest rates are the main mechanism for addressing inflation. Higher rates would help the currency. Investors put their money in places where they can get a decent return - this is not the UK/Sterling at present, as interest rates are too low. Look at the strength of the Aussie dollar where interest rates are up around 5%, compared to Sterling where it is at 0.5%
Click to expand...

Devalued currency helps with foreign investments though. Weaker currency, lower building and labor costs = more open to investment.

That's why the US never wants the USD to be on par/stronger than the GBP like it was back in the late 90s. The US economy thrives on investments and places to export it's devalued labor.

The US complains about China artificially devaluing their currency, which they should, but the US does it themselves. :p Oh living in America
 
koobcamuk said:
Please explain to us how a digital download incurs import costs.

Furthermore, if you lived in the UK, no doubt you would be complaining. Your argument is somewhat redundant. As you are not affected, you therefore go against equality. People like you give Americans a bad name.
Click to expand...

Bzzzz. Wrong.

I'm British so I know exactly how much it costs. I used to import products all the time from the US.

Try buying something in the UK when you have to pay in dollars and watch prices double after fees and charges are added.

Learn the differences between product markets and you might learn why things are priced differently in two different countries.

As for your download it incurs business taxes because it's sold in the UK, it incurs infrastructure and power charges and taxes to supply the data from Apple owned offices, licenses for third-party technology it might use, offset costs incurred by employees working in the UK, etc. etc. etc.

There's a reason Apple outsources all of it's manufacturing to China. It's not because of the great exchange rate. It's because the price of doing business in a country that pays it's workforce squat and has lower taxes is cheaper than doing it somewhere like the UK. Same applies to retail.
 
richardw said:
Answer 2: Higher interest rates do tend to prop up a currencies value as they tend to reduce inflation.
Click to expand...

Raising sterling interest rates from 0.5% to 0.75% won't make international investors shift their dollar denominated assets to pound denominated assets (which would increase the pound's value). What's more important for investors than a tiny interest rate rise is prospects for return on investment in the UK economy, and the UK economy is in a dire state - sorry most investors aren't as stupid as you think...

richardw said:
Higher rates tend to make inflation lower because the cost of borrowing goes up.
Click to expand...

If the cost of the borrowing in the UK economy went up, more people would lose their jobs and more businesses would contract or become insolvent. Do you want to lose your job so petrol might be slightly cheaper?
 
phalseHUD said:
Pissed off! I was gonna buy pages earlier and left it in case of a drop in price... Pages can go and scratch now!
Click to expand...

Bummer.

Although for future reference, I don't believe Apple has ever "dropped the price" of any of their App Store wares, so if you're waiting for GarageBand for iPad to go on sale, forget it, it ain't gonna happen. :)
 
ArcaneDevice said:
Forget the manufacturing, import and transport costs that are significantly different in other countries. Forget the cost to licence software elements and hardware patents ...

let's ignore all that and just base the price on a figure that is as solid as a bag of water. :rolleyes:
Click to expand...

Erm?? :confused::confused::confused::confused: We WILL forget and ignore all that mate because the article was referring to 'applications' or 'software' that is exclusively digitally downloaded from the Apple App Store, I would even say the app I buy is stored on a server in America, most likely the same one you use.
So, yeap, your argument is totally and utterly flawed. :rolleyes:
 
programmasters said:
quite funny, as you have also made an error noW... and here in belgium we have to learn 4 languages. Dutch, French, German and English. When you are able to speak four language without any errors, please reply

Ooh yeah, Those are the official mandatory languages, I also speak spanish and latin, so when you talk six language, you can reply
Click to expand...

This forum is not a Belgianese forum. It is conducted in English. Please reply after re-reading the rules.

Being as you obviously cannot speak four languages without errors, why should I only reply when I can?

I speak Japanese, which doesn't even use Roman characters (as all the languages you list do).

:)
 
gatearray said:
Bummer.

Although for future reference, I don't believe Apple has ever "dropped the price" of any of their App Store wares, so if you're waiting for GarageBand for iPad to go on sale, forget it, it ain't gonna happen. :)
Click to expand...

Already have GB... Can't see the price on my iPad since it's already installed. Is it still £2.99?
 
Good morning from Australia!!!

I was hoping for Lion and the MacBook Airs overnight, but this may be even better!

I realise we have the good end of the stick on this one, but Apple is at least demonstrating some flexibility here. Prices have been woeful in Australia for years. And since the difference in USD and AUD has narrowed (and danced around pretty much even) it's been a bit of a sore point.

Anyway, just want to share a little joy... in I think my first post? ...

I was hesitant to buy Aperture at it's previous price of about $99 (even though a deal compared to the boxed version) but this morning it comes out at $84.99

Now I still want that Air.. but if Apple can do the same with hardware, could we see a $200 price drop off the base model ... ? Hey and what about iTunes, that would be something!
 
malman89 said:
Devalued currency helps with foreign investments though. Weaker currency, lower building and labor costs = more open to investment.

That's why the US never wants the USD to be on par/stronger than the GBP like it was back in the late 90s. The US economy thrives on investments and places to export it's devalued labor.

The US complains about China artificially devaluing their currency, which they should, but the US does it themselves. :p Oh living in America
Click to expand...

Absolutely. The problem that the UK has is that due to the level of taxation, regulation it's quite an expensive place to do business. Unless you're in the banking sector with the huge incentives they receive. Which is one reason why financial services is a disproportionate sector of the UK economy. If you want to see what I mean, have a look at how much profit Barclays Bank made last year and how much tax they paid.
 
rhombus said:
Raising sterling interest rates from 0.5% to 0.75% won't make international investors shift their dollar denominated assets to pound denominated assets (which would increase the pound's value). What's more important for investors than a tiny interest rate rise is prospects for return on investment in the UK economy, and the UK economy is in a dire state - sorry most investors aren't as stupid as you think...



If the cost of the borrowing in the UK economy went up, more people would lose their jobs and more businesses would contract or become insolvent. Do you want to lose your job so petrol might be slightly cheaper?
Click to expand...

I agree a raising in interest rates would have minimal effect. Also, I was answering the question, not necessarily agreeing with it as a course of action.

However if interest rates went up enough to make the housing market collapse further, it'd do me a favour.
 
pitouthestar said:
Nope, still more expensive in the UK.
I might be wrong, but I don't think you have to add taxes when you buy an app in the US. It's just 99 cts, somebody corrects me if I'm wrong.
Click to expand...

Not sure. Anyway, the US price doesn't include taxes, so when you buy a $0.99 app on the U.S. store:

- the developer gets $0.693

- Apple gets $0.297

That's $0.99 total. Any taxes are added to that price so what Apple and the devs get isn't affected.

Whereas when you buy a £0.69 app on the U.K. store:

- the developer gets £0.4025 ~= $0.648

- Apple gets £0.1725 ~= $0.278

That's £0.575 total. The remaining £0.115 is VAT.

This means that currently, despite the price increase, Apple and app store devs make about 7% less money from UK app store purchases than from US app store purchases. Before the change, UK app store purchases were actually 25% less profitable than US app store purchases.
 
Last edited:
ArcaneDevice said:
Bzzzz. Wrong.

I'm British so I know exactly how much it costs. I used to import products all the time from the US.

Try buying something in the UK when you have to pay in dollars and watch prices double after fees and charges are added.

Learn the differences between product markets and you might learn why things are priced differently in two different countries.

As for your download it incurs business taxes because it's sold in the UK, it incurs infrastructure and power charges and taxes to supply the data from Apple owned offices, licenses for third-party technology it might use, offset costs incurred by employees working in the UK, etc. etc. etc.

There's a reason Apple outsources all of it's manufacturing to China. It's not because of the great exchange rate. It's because the price of doing business in a country that pays it's workforce squat and has lower taxes is cheaper than doing it somewhere like the UK. Same applies to retail.
Click to expand...

BZzzz, wrong.

I understand why the prices are different, and it has nothing to do with import charges. H&M Customs do not get involved or take a cut from App Store sales. VAT yes, import duty, no.

You live with your head in the clouds mate!
 
aurichie said:
What this also means is the Brits will be paying even more for Apple hardware refresh coming shortly. :D
Click to expand...

If Apple prices its hardware in the UK like its pricing its digital downloads given today's change (i.e. using accurate USD/GBP conversion rates), then hardware in the UK will become a lot cheaper.
 
programmasters said:
for uk and norway :hahaha, serves you right for not accepting the euro. I live in belgium, and still 0.99$ is 0.79€. You are part of the european union, now embrace it's currency.

For switzerland and mexico, though luck, but i pressume prices will fluctuate sooner or later
Click to expand...

What? Do you not realize that Norway is NOT part of the European Union? Why should we "accept" the euro?
 
pitouthestar said:
Nope, still more expensive in the UK.
I might be wrong, but I don't think you have to add taxes when you buy an app in the US. It's just 99 cts, somebody corrects me if I'm wrong.
Click to expand...

From the App Store terms and conditions:

Your total price will include the price of the product plus any applicable sales tax; such sales tax is based on the bill-to address and the sales tax rate in effect at the time you download the product. We will charge tax only in states where digital goods are taxable.
Click to expand...

Just because apps don't attract sales tax in a lot of places in the USA doesn't mean you can ignore VAT in the UK:

The $0.99 price in the US doesn't include sales tax. The price in the UK does include sales tax (VAT)

In other words, the US Price is

$0.99 + 0% = $0.99

In the UK we have to add VAT to that so the dollar price would be

$0.99 + 20% = $1.188

At current exchange rates that is more than £0.69 (nearly £0.74)
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Register on MacRumors! This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.
Top Bottom
Back