Price changes coming for buyers of Windows apps outside the US

Sean Michael

Microsoft Logo

Selling things around the globe creates a complex set of currency exchanges and pricing systems. Microsoft has announced that on April 13th their “Windows Store price tier value updates” will take effect. What this means is that profits from selling apps internationally will be affected and whether it’s good for developers or not depends on their country’s currency.

Microsoft is basically updating their conversion rates for different currencies. They set the US dollar as the central unit and base other currencies values around it. The example they give in an email is that before the update an app costing $2.99 would sell for 18 Chinese Yuan (CNY) and after the update the same app worth $2.99 will be worth 18.50 CNY.

Microsoft Price Tier Email

Microsoft uses 96 price tiers and with an ever changing global economy the system has to be updated periodically. The most recent update also reflects the recent relative growth of the US dollar to other currencies. The US dollar has grown over the last year and is now within 10 cents of the Euro.

The unfortunate side effect of this for consumers is that there is a relative price increase for people in many countries outside the United States.