Apple Slashes Australian App Store Prices To Match US

An anonymous reader writes "It's been a long time coming, but Apple has finally readjusted the price of apps in Australia to match pricing in the U.S. While they remain more expensive than in the U.S., premium apps have still received a price-cut, with $8.99, $9.99 and $11.99 apps dropping to $8.49, $9.49 and $10.49, respectively. Movies and music, meanwhile, remain unchanged. In recent months, Apple has come under fire from consumer watchdogs, angry customers and even the Australian Government for its local price markups."

Shows the benefits of being Apple.

[Anonymous Coward]

Even though there's alternatives a lot of Australians have "affection" for Apple and their own percieved apple lifestyle so they'll complain and keep paying up.

Re:Apple US UK price differences

[Anubis IV]

Indeed, this was part of a global adjustment based on the way that the US dollar is traded today.

For the App Store, the international equivalents of the $0.99 apps have changed to the following prices according to MacRumors [macrumors.com]:

UK: £0.59 -> £0.69
Australia: AU$1.19 -> AU$0.99
Japan: 115 -> 85 Yen
Mexico: $10 -> $12
Switzerland: 1.10Fr -> 1.00Fr
Norway: 6.00Kr -> 7.00Kr

Re:The Prices are now equal

[Gadget_Guy]

Remove the tax and the prices are the same.

No, it is not. Even if there was parity between the A$ and US$ (which there is not), $0.99 to $1.19 markup would be a 20% tax. A $1.99 to $2.49 markup would be a 25% tax.

Re:What about EU prices?

[stewbacca]

One of the many benefits of living in the States, my friend--cheap shit everywhere. Cheap as inexpensive (not cheap as in shitty, but that's a conversation that is already held daily on slashdot when all the cheap assholes complain about Apple prices and swoon over their latest generic commodity shitty electronic component).

I get really pissed off when cheap asses over here complain about $3.50 / gallon gas, $200,000 houses giant houses and $20,000 economy cars. Now we are sniveling about the economy for the past 10 years, yet everything here is still roughly 1/2 the cost of everything in Europe. The only difference is the Europeans have adapted, changed their habits and lowered their expectations. And life still goes on there, meanwhile back here people lose their minds when Wal-mart adds $0.30 to the price of a package of (fill in the really bad for you food that is an imitation of the real thing here).

So the low prices here come with some trade-offs. I see the benefit of living here and I see the benefits of living in Europe. I prefer Europe, but the economic reality keeps me here.

Re:Want to see a real rip-off for Australians?

[Anonymous Coward]

You do have to pay VAT on ebooks though.

Apple is not alone

[EEPROMS]

Apple are not the only electronics supplier gouging Australians, take a 16Gb Asus transformer Android tablet US price US$399 Australian price US$549. Its so bad now that most Australians with any internet skills are buying their electronics in the USA and paying the shipping costs and are still saving $200 for every $1,000 spent. It gets even worse for laptops, the Australian price for Lenovo thinkpads is nearly twice the US price now.