Apple increases app prices in some European App Stores

europe app price hike

Bad news for iTunes users in Europe this afternoon. Several reports are coming in that Apple has upped the pricing on App Store apps, with base prices increasing from €0.79 to €0.89 in several markets on the continent. The change has been confirmed in Italy, Germany, France and several other European countries…

Why the price hike? The Next Web is reporting that it could be related to local tax increases:

“The amount of increase in each country appears to be caused by an increase in local taxes in many countries. Apple is based in Luxembourg for tax and VAT purposes with regards to sales in the EU, so an additional cost is passed on to developers. This puts their cut closer to 60% in the EU, rather than the 70% Apple pays developers elsewhere. But that isn’t anything new. There does, however, appear to be a slight increase in the cut Apple takes due to taxes which puts their cut at nearly exactly 59-60%.”

The change could also have something to do with the decline in the strength of the Euro over the past year. Just like the rest of us, most of Europe is currently facing an economic crisis.

It’s also worth noting that Apple’s European App Stores have been undergoing significant maintenance today, as it has added support for 8 different types of new currencies. So the price changes could be some sort of temporary error, but it’s unlikely. MacStories has a list of the new supported tenders:

  • Russia: Ruble
  • Turkey: Lira
  • India: Rupee
  • Indonesian: Rupiah
  • Israel: New Shekel
  • Saudi Arabia: Riyal
  • South Africa: Rand
  • UAE: Dirham

This is kind of a strange development, especially since there was no mention of it on Apple’s conference call earlier today. We’ll keep you updated, and let you know if Apple comments.

European readers, are you seeing the pricing changes?