Apple had confirmed that the App Store is set to see a price increase of 25% in the United Kingdom. The change to pricing, which will come into effect within the next few days, has been blamed on Brexit – the process by which the UK will be leaving the European Union.
The referendum led to a fall in the value of the currency used in the country, effectively meaning that Apple and developers were making less money on any transaction. The change in price will address this issue, increasing the cost of a 79p app to 99p or a game like Super Mario Run to £9.99 from £7.99. However, developers can choose to set their prices lower so that there will be no actual increase.
“When foreign exchange rates or taxation changes, we sometimes need to update prices on the App Store,” said the company in an email sent to websites.
It is not the first time the company has upped the price of products. In 2016, Apple confirmed that that its hardware would become more expensive. The recent Nintendo Switch console price of £280 has also been blamed on Brexit, suggesting gaming could become more costly in the UK in the near future.
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And this is why we should have remained in the UK in my opinion. Not because of app price increases but because a lot of other essential items will have their prices increased by manufacturers as well to cope with their costs. Toblerone has already made their chocolate bar smaller because of Brexit and now this. 25% is quite a lot to be honest. The fact that a game like Super Mario Run is now £10 whereas in the US it is $10 is just astonishing :eek:!
Brexit is going to produce a lot of changes, and price increases are just some of them. Companies have their legal situation changed, and they need to adjust to the new reality. As consumers we will pay the price, as always…