Apple cuts price-cut plans

 

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By Matthew Sparkes

Posted on 16 Jul 2008 at 08:25

Apple has reversed its decision to lower the cost of tracks sold on the UK iTunes store.

In January the company said it would bring the UK price of 79p for a single track down to match the 99 Euro cents that was charged elsewhere in Europe, which equated to 74p.

However, the shifting economy has done the job for Apple, bringing the cost of a Euro up to a point where tracks now cost the same in Europe and the UK.

"The announcement was that we would match the UK price to that of other lower priced European countries," says an Apple spokesman. "This is no longer necessary as exchange rates have effectively done it for us."

The promise to cut prices came after a ruling from the European Commission that the company needed to charge consistently for tracks in all European countries.

The Office of Fair Trading had handed a complaint to the organisation detailing how music in the UK was more expensive than in Germany and France.

Despite the European price leveling, customers in Europe still pay far more than those in the US where tracks cost just 49p.