Why Paid iOS Apps at Rs. 10 is Great News for Consumers, Developers and Apple

Apple recently made a big change to the App Store pricing in India. Until now, the minimum price for apps in India was set at Rs. 60 (rupee equivalent to $0.99). A change in Apple’s policies means that developers will have the option to lower the minimum price in different regions and can go down to Rs. 10 in India, while keeping the price of $0.99 in the US and in other markets.

We recently wrote an open letter to Apple, asking the company to set a reasonable price for its gadgets in India. Apple gadgets have been criticized for being overpriced in India – with a few exceptions like the entry-level MacBook Air – but the company has taken the opposite approach with iTunes Store and App Store pricing . Songs that cost $0.99 (60 rupees) each on the US iTunes Store cost between Rs. 8 and Rs. 15 in India. Albums that cost $9.99 (Rs. 620) in the US cost around Rs. 120 in India. This makes us believe that when it comes to digital products at least, Apple isn’t ignoring India.

The new decision to allow developers to price apps at Rs. 10 puts App Store prices on par with iTunes Store. This is a great development as unlike 99 cents in the US, Rs. 60 is a large sum in India. For example, one can go to any station of the Delhi Metro (sometimes a distance of more than 30 km) and come back for less than Rs. 60. It is hard to imagine anyone can manage this kind of travel for less than a dollar in the United States. On the other hand, the Rs. 10 price is on par with $0.99 in the US, as it is an ideal price for impulse purchases.

More than apps, this alternative pricing tier is likely to be a game-changer for in-app purchases (IAP). Most games now follow a freemium model and offer some form of IAP. Usually, you can buy bonuses or play the game longer by opting for these IAPs. If you’ve avoided these IAPs because they’re too expensive so far, the new pricing will make them much more tempting.

Some iOS games allow you to unlock everything for a single fixed price, after letting you play for free up to a certain point. The developers of these games will not benefit much from the IAP price reduction. However, games such as Candy Crush Saga and Temple Run could charge a lot more people for game content in India. Although developers will make less money on individual transactions if they switch to alternate tier pricing, if the number of people making purchases increases, it will balance out and might even be more lucrative.

The new pricing tiers could also incentivize developers to introduce creative pricing strategies. Paid apps could lower their price to Rs. 10 and introduce more expensive in-app purchases to generate revenue. Many of the best paid apps on iOS right now are already priced at just Rs. never paid for apps. If developers see significant improvements at scale, it would help India improve its reputation as a country where people don’t pay for apps. For subscription services such as music streaming apps, the new pricing tiers.

Of course, this change also makes people worried about those who would abuse the system. After all, anyone can easily change their App Store region to India to try and get big app discounts. This will hopefully not be a problem, as Apple bases your region on the credit card you use. Therefore, you need to have an Indian credit card to make purchases in the Indian app store, which seems like a high enough barrier.

It’s great to see Apple aligning digital product prices with purchasing power in various regions like India. The key factor in all this remains the developers because they are the ones who set the price. They hope that the increase in trading volume compensates for the decline in value per trade. While this is unlikely to lead to Apple reducing the price of its hardware, it could certainly increase App Store transactions and with it Apple’s 30% share of our hardware purchases. apps.