Move due to change in local laws and exchange rates

Jan 9, 2015 12:30 GMT  ·  By

Starting today, the App Store is more expensive for several European countries and Canada. App prices are now on par with their US counterparts in terms of numbers.

The change is due to new legislature adopted in recent times, as well as exchange rates. Europe, for its part, has increased prices for digital goods by 6.5 percent.

Minimum tier is €0.99 in Europe, $1.49 in Canada

As of now, a $0.99 app will sell for €0.99 in Europe and $1.49 in Canada. The same goes for the more expensive titles, such as Apple’s $199.99 Logic Pro X. The same app now sells for €199.99 in Europe. Aperture now sells for €79.99. Previously, it used to cost €69.99. As you might have already noticed, the changes apply to both the iOS App Store and the Mac App Store.

The change isn’t a surprise. Apple began notifying developers two days ago that, “within the next 36 hours, prices on the App Store will increase for all territories in the European Union as well as in Canada and Norway...” The email further states that Iceland will actually see its prices decrease, while Russia will also undergo some changes (not specifying whether it will be a drop or a spike).

“These changes are made to account for adjustments in value-added tax (VAT) and foreign exchange rates. We will simultaneously update the Pricing Matric in Rights and Pricung in My Apps on iTunes Connect,” Apple added.

Hardware prices remain intact

As far as its hardware business is concerned, Apple hasn’t made any changes. However, when it comes to physical goods, the company already has much higher prices in European money. For example, a state-of-the-art 5K iMac currently sells for $2,500 in The States. That same computer sells for €2600 across Europe.