Owing to fluctuation in exchange rates and the value of the rand which has continued to slump over the past few months against major foreign currencies, Apple will be increasing the price of paid apps in South Africa. According to reports reaching us from Apple in an online document, it was revealed that they will be increasing the price of apps from January 2016.
App stores affected by the change are South Africa, Canada, Israel, Mexico, New Zealand, Russia and Singapore. For those using the In App subscription in South Africa, their subscriptions will be interrupted so they will have to re-subscribe manually at a new price, said Apple.
For the upcoming price increase, paid Apps in the South African App store will change by a small margin. According to an earlier report, the cheapest app in the South African App Store is now R18.99, up from R13.99 previously. Apps in the cheapest tier in the US App Store cost $0.99, so R18.99 is directly comparable at an exchange rate of R16.80 to the US Dollar plus 14% South African VAT. Of the R18.99 tier one price, developers’ proceeds are R11.66 net of commission.
Apple added that the added money subscribers will have to pay will be minimal.