Apple Hikes App Store Purchases for iPhone users in Nigeria, UK

iPhone users in Nigeria and six other countries will be parting with more cash when making purchases on the Apple app store from February 23, 2023, as the US device maker implements changes due to shifts in taxes and money exchange rates.

Apple in December 2022, earlier announced an upgrade to pricing capabilities that would provide developers on the app store with 700 additional price points and new pricing tools that will enable them set prices per App Store country or region, manage foreign exchange rate changes, and more.

According to the update seen on the App developer blog, the countries where the app store price increment will affect include Colombia, Egypt, Hungary, Nigeria, Norway, South Africa, and the United Kingdom.

For some other countries like Uzbekistan, there will be a reduced price when making purchases on the app store to reflect a reduction of the value-added tax rate from 15% to 12%.

Users in Ireland, Luxembourg, Singapore, and Zimbabwe will also maintain their current payment structure as the prices will not be changed but proceeds for developers will be adjusted to reflect the following tax changes.

Local developers in Cambodia, Kyrgyzstan, Indonesia, Singapore, South Korea, Tajikistan, Thailand, and Uzbekistan will also witness an increase in the proceeds by the end of January 2023.

According to Apple, it set up the App Store’s commerce and payments system to empower the developers and help them conveniently build, develop and sell their products and services at a global scale with 44 currencies across 175 Storefronts.

It further stated that the changes in its app store price setting is done globally using publicly available exchange rate information which is sourced from financial data and helps the prices stay equalized.