Apple switches App Store pricing to local currencies in 9 countries

In nine markets, Apple will soon move to using local currencies on the App Store, according to an official notice to developers.

The transition should start in the next few weeks, Apple said. Affected countries include Egypt, Kazakhstan, Malaysia, Nigeria, Pakistan, the Philippines, Qatar, Tanzania, and Vietnam.

Previously those countries' storefronts showed pricing in U.S. dollars. That could, of course, be potentially confusing for anyone wanting an app or in-app purchase, given exchange rates.

The changeover is expected to be fairly seamless, as Apple noted that any auto-renewing subscriptions will continue automatically.

Apple typically uses local currencies in major markets such as France and the U.K.

11 Comments

randominternetperson

said about 6 years ago

That's odd. I wonder what was different about those countries. That would be like if those Nigerian prince emails said he wants to send me 6 billion naira instead of $20 million. I doubt it was just laziness on Apple's part.

anantksundaram

said about 6 years ago

randominternetperson said:

That's odd. I wonder what was different about those countries. That would be like if those Nigerian prince emails said he wants to send me 6 billion naira instead of $20 million. I doubt it was just laziness on Apple's part.

I am guessing that these are tiny markets for Apple, and the company just didn't bother until now. Likely nothing more significant than that.

sdietric

said about 6 years ago

It should actually be the other way around. There is more uncertainty for the customer when they buy on the store in USD because you don't know how much you will be charged on your local currency credit card. Or the other way around, there is more currency risk for Apple when the store is in local currency, but Apple doesn't know how much they get in USD when customers buy, and may have to make more frequent adjustments to prices on major currency exchange rate shifts. For major currencies, that risk is usually not that high as fluctuations are relatively small (with one notable exception of USD vs GBP on Brexit decision), but I guess these markets mentioned above are so small that pricing changes won't be frequent even on larger currency exchange rate fluctuations.

SpamSandwich

said about 6 years ago

They should offer Bitcoin payment in all territories. B)

randominternetperson

said about 6 years ago

sdietric0 said:

It should actually be the other way around. There is more uncertainty for the customer when they buy on the store in USD because you don't know how much you will be charged on your local currency credit card. Or the other way around, there is more currency risk for Apple when the store is in local currency, but Apple doesn't know how much they get in USD when customers buy, and may have to make more frequent adjustments to prices on major currency exchange rate shifts. For major currencies, that risk is usually not that high as fluctuations are relatively small (with one notable exception of USD vs GBP on Brexit decision), but I guess these markets mentioned above are so small that pricing changes won't be frequent even on larger currency exchange rate fluctuations.

Excellent points. And just 2 posts to your name. Welcome!
However the risk/fluctuation will primarily hit the software developers (their 70% compared to Apple's 30%). I have some minor apps in the AppStore and those countries probably represent a fraction of 1% of sales, so oh well.