Apple today began implementing App Store price hikes in all regions and countries that use the euro, due to the euro’s weakness once morest the U.S. dollar. Tim Sweeney, CEO of Epic Games, weighed in on the price update, saying there was no reason for Apple to do it. Its company is currently embroiled in a legal battle with Apple.
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In a statement, Sweeney likened Apple to a landlord with tenants who had nowhere to go because there was no alternative App Store for developers to use:
Imagine if a landlord told their small business tenants that they had to raise prices, and the tenants had no say in the issue and nowhere else to go. That’s what Apple does to developers, for no other reason than to boost Apple’s bottom line. They unilaterally imposed price increases on developers in multiple countries without any reason. Developers have no choice but to obey, because the App Store is the only way for developers to reach more than 1 billion iOS users.
Apple first announced price increases last month, giving developers regarding three weeks to prepare. App Store pricing is tiered, and what Apple is doing is raising the cost of all preset tiers. For example, the lowest tier of €0.99 has jumped to €1.19, while the highest tier has risen from €999 to €1199. The full pricing tiers are published on Apple’s website:
In addition to countries using the euro, Apple has also raised prices in Chile, Egypt, Japan, Malaysia, Pakistan, Poland, South Korea, Sweden and Vietnam.
Developers selling apps in countries that use the euro can choose to lower their App Store prices, or pass the higher cost on to consumers, but as Sweeney points out, there’s no other way for developers to use Apple App Store case toiPhoneandiPadof customers provide applications.
Epic Games and Apple have been engaged in a long-running legal battle over Apple’s App Store policies. Sweeney and his company deliberately violated the rules of the App Store and then filed a lawsuit once morest Apple, hoping a court would order Apple to allow third-party app stores to operate on iOS devices.
The lawsuit didn’t work in Epic Games’ favor, and Apple wasn’t ordered to support an alternate app store. The two companies are now in a lengthy appeal process, and Apple faces legislation in multiple countries that might eventually require it to make some changes to allow sideloading apps.
