App store price increases

Confusing · 14-07-2011, 00:29

Related content from Digital Spy:

Apple hikes up App Store prices

Just loaded up the app store on my iphone and everything's increased in price! What reason do they have to put them up so much, except greed

Here is full list of changes
http://www.pocketgamer.co.uk/r/Multi...ws.asp?c=31494
59p is now 69p
£1.19 now £1.49
£1.79 now £1.99
£2.39 now £2.49
£2.99 still £2.99
£3.49 now £3.99
£3.99 now £4.99
£4.99 now £5.49
£5.49 now £5.99
£5.99 now £6.99
£6.99 now £7.99
£7.49 now £8.99
£8.99 now £10.49
£9.49 now £10.99

danleto · 14-07-2011, 01:39

You only realise it's greed now?

russellelly · 14-07-2011, 07:11

Quote:

Originally Posted by Confusing

Just loaded up the app store on my iphone and everything's increased in price! What reason do they have to put them up so much, except greed

Here is full list of changes
http://www.pocketgamer.co.uk/r/Multi...ws.asp?c=31494
59p is now 69p
£1.19 now £1.49
£1.79 now £1.99
£2.39 now £2.49
£2.99 still £2.99
£3.49 now £3.99
£3.99 now £4.99
£4.99 now £5.49
£5.49 now £5.99
£5.99 now £6.99
£6.99 now £7.99
£7.49 now £8.99
£8.99 now £10.49
£9.49 now £10.99

Apparently it's to bring prices in line with USD, since the exchange rate has drifted. Some other countries have seen a price decrease for the same reason.

http://www.macrumors.com/2011/07/13/...-store-prices/

cleocat · 14-07-2011, 09:35

Just about to post the same thing but why has 2.99 not changed. It's an increase of 17%

stud u like · 14-07-2011, 09:43

Disgusting behaviour! Talk about ripping people off!

d3nium · 14-07-2011, 09:56

Installous FTW!

LowLife · 14-07-2011, 10:07

But you're an Apple customer, being ripped off should be second nature to you...

david.boobis · 14-07-2011, 11:14

Quote:

Originally Posted by russellelly

Apparently it's to bring prices in line with USD, since the exchange rate has drifted. Some other countries have seen a price decrease for the same reason.

http://www.macrumors.com/2011/07/13/...-store-prices/

If that were the case then the prices would show a uniform increase in relation to their US counterparts, but that's not the case - $1.99 to $2.99 shows a 50p increase, while $4.99 to $5.99 shows a £1 increase. $6.99 to $7.99 shows a 50p increase, while $54.99 to $59.99 shows a £2 increase.

I'm not going to speculate as to the reason for the changes, but to say it's purely about pulling prices back into line is naive.

mtaylor1811 · 14-07-2011, 11:17

Be interesting to see if and when the Pound ever gets strong against the Dollar, Apple reduce the price of there apps to compensate - yeah as if lol

grumpyoldbat · 14-07-2011, 11:34

Quote:

Originally Posted by david.boobis

If that were the case then the prices would show a uniform increase in relation to their US counterparts, but that's not the case - $1.99 to $2.99 shows a 50p increase, while $4.99 to $5.99 shows a £1 increase. $6.99 to $7.99 shows a 50p increase, while $54.99 to $59.99 shows a £2 increase.

I'm not going to speculate as to the reason for the changes, but to say it's purely about pulling prices back into line is naive.

There's clearly some rounding up going on, to make the prices look nicer.

david.boobis · 14-07-2011, 11:48

Quote:

Originally Posted by grumpyoldbat

There's clearly some rounding up going on, to make the prices look nicer.

They never cared about that before (59p, £1.19, etc) so I don't buy that argument either. Even if that was the case, it's a bit harsh to financially penalise the UK because they want the prices to look pretty.

davethorp · 14-07-2011, 11:51

Rarely buy paid apps anyway so not really bothered

cavemanjames · 14-07-2011, 12:16

You buy a product for brand name at an extortionate price and then get upset when they increase the price of their apps?

grumpyoldbat · 14-07-2011, 12:37

Quote:

Originally Posted by david.boobis

They never cared about that before (59p, £1.19, etc) so I don't buy that argument either. Even if that was the case, it's a bit harsh to financially penalise the UK because they want the prices to look pretty.

They all end in 9 though. The conversion for 99c to £ comes out at about 62p, so they've rounded that to the nearest 9.

If the exchange rate wasn't right, at least this means app developers will get a fair price regardless of which country their apps are sold in. I'd guess up to now, they were receiving a smaller amount for every app sold in the UK.

iain · 14-07-2011, 12:54

Quote:

Originally Posted by Confusing

Just loaded up the app store on my iphone and everything's increased in price! What reason do they have to put them up so much, except greed

current exchange rates, due to the weak £ compared to the $?

Iain

david.boobis · 14-07-2011, 13:25

Quote:

Originally Posted by grumpyoldbat

They all end in 9 though. The conversion for 99c to £ comes out at about 62p, so they've rounded that to the nearest 9.

If the exchange rate wasn't right, at least this means app developers will get a fair price regardless of which country their apps are sold in. I'd guess up to now, they were receiving a smaller amount for every app sold in the UK.

OK, but if you look at some other conversions that doesn't work:

$6.99 = £4.33 -> App Store = £4.99
$9.99 = £6.19 -> App Store = £6.99
$29.99 = £18.58 -> App Store = £20.49

Looks like they might be realigning the more popular price points and regaining historically "lost" revenue through the higher ones - so Apple gains through distributed sales, but the individual devs who missed out don't.

grumpyoldbat · 14-07-2011, 14:00

I don't follow you. If Apple sells at the new prices, the devs get 70% of the new price. Apple's 30% is from the newer price. Both Apple and the devs would have lost out at the lower price.

david.boobis · 14-07-2011, 14:38

Quote:

Originally Posted by grumpyoldbat

I don't follow you. If Apple sells at the new prices, the devs get 70% of the new price. Apple's 30% is from the newer price. Both Apple and the devs would have lost out at the lower price.

I mean that the devs who have already sold at the original price will not get any of the money they lost through the incorrect exchange rate back, but Apple will recoup these losses through the skewed rates at higher price points. Yes, the devs who price there now gain, but no app over around $5.99 sells massively anyway. Combine all the sales at these price points though, and it looks good for Apple.

The popular price points $0.99, $1.99, and $2.99 are in line with the exchange rates, so the devs there don't lose or gain anything.

tonysidaway · 14-07-2011, 15:29

Wait. People pay for apps?

Dark 1 · 14-07-2011, 17:12

Quote:

Originally Posted by stud u like

Disgusting behaviour! Talk about ripping people off!

Yeah! Apple customers in Australia, Japan and Switzerland must feel so ripped off having to pay less for apps now. So evil!

Everything Goes · 14-07-2011, 17:25

Keep giving your money to the Church of Jobs and you will get into iHeaven

ACU · 14-07-2011, 17:27

Part of the price increase may be to do with exchange rates, some is just to increase apple coffers. Nothing wrong with that, as people have a choice on whether to buy an app or not.

I wouldnt fall for the exchange rate excuse. Not sure why apple fans will complain. They paid way over the odds for the apple device, so why should a few more pennies on apps bother you?

grumpyoldbat · 14-07-2011, 17:30

Quote:

Originally Posted by david.boobis

I mean that the devs who have already sold at the original price will not get any of the money they lost through the incorrect exchange rate back, but Apple will recoup these losses through the skewed rates at higher price points. Yes, the devs who price there now gain, but no app over around $5.99 sells massively anyway. Combine all the sales at these price points though, and it looks good for Apple.

The popular price points $0.99, $1.99, and $2.99 are in line with the exchange rates, so the devs there don't lose or gain anything.

Go and look at the Top Grossing list on the app store. The GPS apps are above £10 each and yet they're still selling in high enough quantities to be top of the charts. Quite a few of the EA brand titles go above the £5 mark too.

grumpyoldbat · 14-07-2011, 17:32

Quote:

Originally Posted by david.boobis

I mean that the devs who have already sold at the original price will not get any of the money they lost through the incorrect exchange rate back, but Apple will recoup these losses through the skewed rates at higher price points. Yes, the devs who price there now gain, but no app over around $5.99 sells massively anyway. Combine all the sales at these price points though, and it looks good for Apple.

The popular price points $0.99, $1.99, and $2.99 are in line with the exchange rates, so the devs there don't lose or gain anything.

By your reckoning. Apple lost out before and so do the devs, and if Apple are now recouping that loss from the low price so are the devs. Apps aren't sold to Apple as wholesale, they're sold direct to the customer and Apple pay the devs based on the price sold to the customer.

This isn't a traditional retail sell in.

Mozitski · 14-07-2011, 17:33

omg lol iphone is a load of sht im glad i didnt get it now. It keeps on advertising facetime when you can just download skype for free on my nokia?? Same goes with whatsapp, it's free on nokia but for iphone they pay lol.

14-07-2011, 00:29	#1
Confusing Forum Member Join Date: Aug 2008 Posts: 8,491	App store price increases Related content from Digital Spy: Apple hikes up App Store prices Just loaded up the app store on my iphone and everything's increased in price! What reason do they have to put them up so much, except greed Here is full list of changes http://www.pocketgamer.co.uk/r/Multi...ws.asp?c=31494 59p is now 69p £1.19 now £1.49 £1.79 now £1.99 £2.39 now £2.49 £2.99 still £2.99 £3.49 now £3.99 £3.99 now £4.99 £4.99 now £5.49 £5.49 now £5.99 £5.99 now £6.99 £6.99 now £7.99 £7.49 now £8.99 £8.99 now £10.49 £9.49 now £10.99

14-07-2011, 01:39	#2
danleto Guest Join Date: Sep 2010 Posts: 2,519	You only realise it's greed now?

14-07-2011, 07:11	#3
russellelly Forum Member Join Date: Sep 2002 Location: Scotland Posts: 10,720	Quote: Originally Posted by Confusing Just loaded up the app store on my iphone and everything's increased in price! What reason do they have to put them up so much, except greed Here is full list of changes http://www.pocketgamer.co.uk/r/Multi...ws.asp?c=31494 59p is now 69p £1.19 now £1.49 £1.79 now £1.99 £2.39 now £2.49 £2.99 still £2.99 £3.49 now £3.99 £3.99 now £4.99 £4.99 now £5.49 £5.49 now £5.99 £5.99 now £6.99 £6.99 now £7.99 £7.49 now £8.99 £8.99 now £10.49 £9.49 now £10.99 Apparently it's to bring prices in line with USD, since the exchange rate has drifted. Some other countries have seen a price decrease for the same reason. http://www.macrumors.com/2011/07/13/...-store-prices/

14-07-2011, 09:35	#4
cleocat Forum Member Join Date: May 2005 Posts: 1,605	Just about to post the same thing but why has 2.99 not changed. It's an increase of 17%

14-07-2011, 09:43	#5
stud u like Forum Member Join Date: Aug 2005 Location: The Sunny Side Of The Street Posts: 40,105	Disgusting behaviour! Talk about ripping people off!

14-07-2011, 09:56	#6
d3nium Forum Member Join Date: Nov 2008 Location: 59 6f 75 72 20 6d 75 6d Posts: 1,473	Installous FTW!

14-07-2011, 10:07	#7
LowLife Forum Member Join Date: Feb 2006 Posts: 140	But you're an Apple customer, being ripped off should be second nature to you...

14-07-2011, 11:14	#8
david.boobis Forum Member Join Date: Nov 2010 Posts: 376	Quote: Originally Posted by russellelly Apparently it's to bring prices in line with USD, since the exchange rate has drifted. Some other countries have seen a price decrease for the same reason. http://www.macrumors.com/2011/07/13/...-store-prices/ If that were the case then the prices would show a uniform increase in relation to their US counterparts, but that's not the case - $1.99 to $2.99 shows a 50p increase, while $4.99 to $5.99 shows a £1 increase. $6.99 to $7.99 shows a 50p increase, while $54.99 to $59.99 shows a £2 increase. I'm not going to speculate as to the reason for the changes, but to say it's purely about pulling prices back into line is naive.

14-07-2011, 11:17	#9
mtaylor1811 Forum Member Join Date: Aug 2008 Posts: 224	Be interesting to see if and when the Pound ever gets strong against the Dollar, Apple reduce the price of there apps to compensate - yeah as if lol

14-07-2011, 11:34	#10
grumpyoldbat Forum Member Join Date: Apr 2008 Posts: 3,636	Quote: Originally Posted by david.boobis If that were the case then the prices would show a uniform increase in relation to their US counterparts, but that's not the case - $1.99 to $2.99 shows a 50p increase, while $4.99 to $5.99 shows a £1 increase. $6.99 to $7.99 shows a 50p increase, while $54.99 to $59.99 shows a £2 increase. I'm not going to speculate as to the reason for the changes, but to say it's purely about pulling prices back into line is naive. There's clearly some rounding up going on, to make the prices look nicer.

14-07-2011, 11:48	#11
david.boobis Forum Member Join Date: Nov 2010 Posts: 376	Quote: Originally Posted by grumpyoldbat There's clearly some rounding up going on, to make the prices look nicer. They never cared about that before (59p, £1.19, etc) so I don't buy that argument either. Even if that was the case, it's a bit harsh to financially penalise the UK because they want the prices to look pretty.

14-07-2011, 11:51	#12
davethorp Forum Member Join Date: Mar 2007 Location: Preston, Lancashire Posts: 7,255	Rarely buy paid apps anyway so not really bothered

14-07-2011, 12:16	#13
cavemanjames Guest Join Date: Jan 2009 Posts: 617	You buy a product for brand name at an extortionate price and then get upset when they increase the price of their apps?

14-07-2011, 12:37	#14
grumpyoldbat Forum Member Join Date: Apr 2008 Posts: 3,636	Quote: Originally Posted by david.boobis They never cared about that before (59p, £1.19, etc) so I don't buy that argument either. Even if that was the case, it's a bit harsh to financially penalise the UK because they want the prices to look pretty. They all end in 9 though. The conversion for 99c to £ comes out at about 62p, so they've rounded that to the nearest 9. If the exchange rate wasn't right, at least this means app developers will get a fair price regardless of which country their apps are sold in. I'd guess up to now, they were receiving a smaller amount for every app sold in the UK.

14-07-2011, 12:54	#15
iain Guest Join Date: Mar 2000 Posts: 62,990	Quote: Originally Posted by Confusing Just loaded up the app store on my iphone and everything's increased in price! What reason do they have to put them up so much, except greed current exchange rates, due to the weak £ compared to the $? Iain

14-07-2011, 13:25	#16
david.boobis Forum Member Join Date: Nov 2010 Posts: 376	Quote: Originally Posted by grumpyoldbat They all end in 9 though. The conversion for 99c to £ comes out at about 62p, so they've rounded that to the nearest 9. If the exchange rate wasn't right, at least this means app developers will get a fair price regardless of which country their apps are sold in. I'd guess up to now, they were receiving a smaller amount for every app sold in the UK. OK, but if you look at some other conversions that doesn't work: $6.99 = £4.33 -> App Store = £4.99 $9.99 = £6.19 -> App Store = £6.99 $29.99 = £18.58 -> App Store = £20.49 Looks like they might be realigning the more popular price points and regaining historically "lost" revenue through the higher ones - so Apple gains through distributed sales, but the individual devs who missed out don't.

14-07-2011, 14:00	#17
grumpyoldbat Forum Member Join Date: Apr 2008 Posts: 3,636	I don't follow you. If Apple sells at the new prices, the devs get 70% of the new price. Apple's 30% is from the newer price. Both Apple and the devs would have lost out at the lower price.

14-07-2011, 14:38	#18
david.boobis Forum Member Join Date: Nov 2010 Posts: 376	Quote: Originally Posted by grumpyoldbat I don't follow you. If Apple sells at the new prices, the devs get 70% of the new price. Apple's 30% is from the newer price. Both Apple and the devs would have lost out at the lower price. I mean that the devs who have already sold at the original price will not get any of the money they lost through the incorrect exchange rate back, but Apple will recoup these losses through the skewed rates at higher price points. Yes, the devs who price there now gain, but no app over around $5.99 sells massively anyway. Combine all the sales at these price points though, and it looks good for Apple. The popular price points $0.99, $1.99, and $2.99 are in line with the exchange rates, so the devs there don't lose or gain anything.

14-07-2011, 15:29	#19
tonysidaway Forum Member Join Date: Aug 2008 Location: London Posts: 1,620	Wait. People pay for apps?

14-07-2011, 17:12	#20
Dark 1 Forum Member Join Date: Nov 2002 Location: Nottingham Posts: 3,975	Quote: Originally Posted by stud u like Disgusting behaviour! Talk about ripping people off! Yeah! Apple customers in Australia, Japan and Switzerland must feel so ripped off having to pay less for apps now. So evil!

14-07-2011, 17:25	#21
Everything Goes Forum Member Join Date: Mar 2002 Location: In the future.... Posts: 11,259	Keep giving your money to the Church of Jobs and you will get into iHeaven

DS Forums

App store price increases

14-07-2011, 17:27	#22
ACU Forum Member Join Date: Aug 2009 Posts: 7,916	Part of the price increase may be to do with exchange rates, some is just to increase apple coffers. Nothing wrong with that, as people have a choice on whether to buy an app or not. I wouldnt fall for the exchange rate excuse. Not sure why apple fans will complain. They paid way over the odds for the apple device, so why should a few more pennies on apps bother you?

14-07-2011, 17:30	#23
grumpyoldbat Forum Member Join Date: Apr 2008 Posts: 3,636	Quote: Originally Posted by david.boobis I mean that the devs who have already sold at the original price will not get any of the money they lost through the incorrect exchange rate back, but Apple will recoup these losses through the skewed rates at higher price points. Yes, the devs who price there now gain, but no app over around $5.99 sells massively anyway. Combine all the sales at these price points though, and it looks good for Apple. The popular price points $0.99, $1.99, and $2.99 are in line with the exchange rates, so the devs there don't lose or gain anything. Go and look at the Top Grossing list on the app store. The GPS apps are above £10 each and yet they're still selling in high enough quantities to be top of the charts. Quite a few of the EA brand titles go above the £5 mark too.

14-07-2011, 17:32	#24
grumpyoldbat Forum Member Join Date: Apr 2008 Posts: 3,636	Quote: Originally Posted by david.boobis I mean that the devs who have already sold at the original price will not get any of the money they lost through the incorrect exchange rate back, but Apple will recoup these losses through the skewed rates at higher price points. Yes, the devs who price there now gain, but no app over around $5.99 sells massively anyway. Combine all the sales at these price points though, and it looks good for Apple. The popular price points $0.99, $1.99, and $2.99 are in line with the exchange rates, so the devs there don't lose or gain anything. By your reckoning. Apple lost out before and so do the devs, and if Apple are now recouping that loss from the low price so are the devs. Apps aren't sold to Apple as wholesale, they're sold direct to the customer and Apple pay the devs based on the price sold to the customer. This isn't a traditional retail sell in.

14-07-2011, 17:33	#25
Mozitski Forum Member Join Date: Dec 2010 Posts: 2,911	omg lol iphone is a load of sht im glad i didnt get it now. It keeps on advertising facetime when you can just download skype for free on my nokia?? Same goes with whatsapp, it's free on nokia but for iphone they pay lol.