The euro's weakness against the U.S. dollar caused Apple to raise App Store prices in all territories that use the euro. Tim Sweeney, whose company is currently involved in a legal battle with Apple, spoke up on the price update and said Apple had no reason to do it.
There is no alternative App Store for developers to use as Apple has tenants that have nowhere else to go.
Imagine if a landlord told their small business tenant they had to increase their prices without any say in the matter or anywhere else to go. That is what Apple is doing to developers for no other reason than to pad Apple's bottom line. They are unilaterally imposing a price increase on developers across multiple countries without any justification. Developers don't have a choice but to comply because the App Store is the only way they can reach over a billion iOS users.
Apple gave developers three weeks notice of the price increases. The maximum tier has increased from 999 to 1,199, while the minimum tier has gone up from 0 99 to 1.19. There are full pricing tiers on the Apple website.
In addition to countries that use the euro, Apple is increasing prices in many other countries.
Developers who sell apps in countries that use the euro can lower their App Store prices or pass the higher cost along to consumers, but as Sweeney points out, there is no alternative method for developers to provide apps to customers on iPhone and iPad without using Apple's App Store.
The two companies have been fighting over Apple's App Store policies. The lawsuit was filed to get the court to order Apple to allow third-party app stores to operate on their devices.
The lawsuit was not in Apple's favor. Apple is facing legislation in multiple countries that could ultimately require it to make changes to allow for side loading, as well as being engaged in a lengthy appeals process.
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