Apple Lowers UK iTunes Prices
By Christopher Nickson
January 10, 2008
In an unexpected announcement, Apple has decided to standardize iTunes prices across Europe, bring down British prices to fall in line with the rest of the continent.
There’s been an ongoing investigation by the European Union into Apple’s pricing of its iTunes service in the UK, where consumers have paid around $1.60 per track, as opposed to the rest of Europe, where users pay around $1.30.
However, in a surprise move, the company has announced that it will lower the price for tracks in the UK to bring them in line with the rest of Europe, Vnunet has reported.
"This is an important step towards a pan-European marketplace for music," said Apple chief executive Steve Jobs. "We hope that every major record label will take a pan-European view of pricing."
Apple had always claimed its pricing reflected the high cost of doing business in the UK. Now, however, it’s putting the onus on record labels and try to leverage its current market dominance by announcing that labels that don’t adjust their prices to these new levels will be dropped.
However, the dominance is waning rapidly as many other big competitors step up to the plate.
In the light of the price revision, the EU has said it will drop its investigation.