Breaking: Apple Balances International App Store Prices

Apple has tweaked the prices of its App Store apps - including games - as part of an update Wednesday, according to online reports, with slight price hikes in the UK complementing price decreases in Australia. According to UK blog Pocket Gamer, apps have increased in price on a sliding scale: the UK equivalent of $0.99 apps have gone up from 59p to 69p, apps previously £1.19 are now £1.49, and at the higher end, £9.49 apps are now £10.99. Interestingly, blog The Next Level reports that prices in Australia have gone down -- $0.99-equivalent apps including Rovio's Angry Birds have gone down from $1.19 Australian dollars to $0.99. The pricing switches come as part of scheduled maintenance that took place today on the company's iTunes Connect service. Apple's maintenance announcement made specific mention of App Store prices for Mexico, Switzerland, Japan and Norway in addition to the above-mentioned countries, meaning those regions may have seen adjustments today as well. It is well known among international publishers on iTunes and the App Store that relative prices worldwide are off-balance: the average purchase price in Mexico is actually less comparitively than that in the United States, for example. Meanwhile, prices in regions like Switzerland and Australia can be more than double the equivalent cost in the United States, according to research from blog MacStories. Apple has not commented on the changes at press time.