In a notice sent to app developers, Apple has revealed that the price change would go into effect on October 5th, later this year, and the company will be adopting a new price tier chart for all paid apps as well as in-app purchases on the platform. However, the silver lining here is that autorenewal subscriptions will still be sold at the same price.
Apple Prepares Users in Select Regions as the Company Heads Towards Increasing App and In-App Purchase Prices
At the time of writing, Apple has not provided any reason behind this change, however, it could be that the local currencies have been struggling to keep up with the dollar. In Vietnam, the price change also accounts for the new tax regulations. The company has also mentioned that the price increase reflects “new regulations for Apple to collect and remit applicable taxes, being value-added tax (VAT) and corporate income tax (CIT) at 5% rates respectively.” In addition to that, Apple has shared an updated price tier list for all the regions affected. This list details the price increase in all countries that are using Euro as the currency. Based on the information from the chart, apps and in-app purchases previously priced at €0.99 will cost €1.19 after the change. The highest tier, which previously cost €999, will cost €1,199. As said before, the price change is not going to affect the auto-renewable subscriptions, and developers will have the option to keep the subscription prices the same for the current subscribers. However, developers can increase the prices at any time in App Store Connect. It is also worth noting that Apple is planning on introducing new ads to the App Store later this year. You can read more about the new change here.