Apple Increasing Prices On App Store In Asia And Europe. Is India Also On The List?

Days after the launch of the new iPhone 14 lineup, Apple has announced increasing the prices of apps and in-app purchases in several countries.

The tech giant did not mention the reason behind the price hike for in-app purchases. Image: Getty

Days after the launch of the new iPhone 14 lineup, Apple has announced increasing the prices of apps and in-app purchases in several countries in Asia and Europe starting October 5. The tech giant did not mention the reason behind the price hike for in-app purchases, but it is maybe to counter weak regional currencies against the dollar. 

"As early as October 5, 2022, prices of apps and in-app purchases (excluding auto-renewable subscriptions) on the App Store will increase in Chile, Egypt, Japan, Malaysia, Pakistan, Poland, South Korea, Sweden, Vietnam, and all territories that use the euro currency. In Vietnam, these increases also reflect new regulations for Apple to collect and remit applicable taxes, being value added tax (VAT) and corporate income tax (CIT) at 5 per cent rates respectively," Apple wrote in a blog post.

"Your proceeds will be adjusted accordingly and will be calculated based on the tax-exclusive price. Exhibit B of the Paid Applications Agreement will be updated to indicate that Apple collects and remits applicable taxes in Vietnam," the company added.

The Cupertino, California-headquartered tech giant has been working on its services business to reduce dependency on its mainstay business of smartphones. Revenue from Apple's services business, which includes the App Store, has been growing at a rapid pace in the last few years and now hovers around $20 billion per quarter, according to a report by news agency Reuters.

Once the changes come into effect, Apple says the Pricing and Availability section of My Apps on the App Store would be updated. Users can change the price of their apps and in-app purchases (including auto-renewable subscriptions) at any time in App Store Connect. If they offer subscriptions, they can choose to preserve prices for existing subscribers.

Meanwhile, in other news, Apple has also upped the cost to replace the batteries of the new iPhone 14 series, including iPhone 14, iPhone 14 Plus, iPhone 14 Pro, and iPhone 14 Pro Max is $99 which is up from the cost of replacing batteries for the iPhone 13 at $69.