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Apple to slash SA App Store prices

Johannesburg - Consumer technology giant Apple is reducing prices for its App Store in South Africa amid the strengthening of the rand in recent months.

South Africa’s rand has strengthened this year from hovering around R16 to US dollar in January to a level of R13.28 to the greenback in August.

“Within the next 72 hours, prices for the apps and in-app purchases (excluding subscriptions) will decrease in South Africa to account for foreign exchange rates,” Apple said in a statement as reported by US website '9to5mac.com' on Monday.

The price drop comes after Apple hiked its App Store pricing for SA in January this year amid the sharp weakening of the rand following the firing of former Finance Minister Nhlanhla Nene.

It’s unclear if Apple’s latest move to reverse its App Store price hike will last as political uncertainty has hit the rand again in recent days.

Last week, the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) announced its decision to charge Finance Minister Pravin Gordhan for fraud.

Amid the announcement, the rand sharply weakened to R14.36 to the US dollar last week, but it has made gains again this week to reach closer to the R14 mark.

Meanwhile, Apple is further hiking prices for its App Store in New Zealand owing to the introduction of an “interaction of goods and services tax (GST)”.

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