More “impossible to refrain from commenting on stuff that shouldn’t be there” from the SMH.
First, just the usual little stuff:
But the introduction of the new aircraft has not been without it’s problems.
The company aims to have the reliability up to the level of it’s long-range 777 model, which has a reliability rate of 99.4 per cent.
Srsly? Once is a typo; but … twice?
And then this: Apple to raise app prices by up to 30 per cent:
The position is:
- Apple has 88 different price tiers for an app. The content owner chooses the tier for their app (Apple has no say in this; it is solely the owner’s choice). Tier 1 is priced at US$0.99. That is the price charged in the US App Store. Tier 2 is US$1.99, Tier 3 is US$2.99, etc
- Apple then applies an exchange rate to produce the prices for the App Stores in other countries. That is what Apple has just changed.
Importantly, when comparing prices in Australia, you have to take account of GST.
After the present change, an A$1.29 tier 1 app will be A$1.17 ex GST. That gives a derived exchange rate of 0.84.
For a Tier 3 app, the prices are US$2.99 and A$3.79, which gives an exchange rate of 0.87.
Tier 6 is US$5.99 and A$7.49, for an exchange rate of 0.88.
Over the past three months, the exchange rate has moved between 0.87 and 0.93. It’s clear that Apple is forecasting that the present 0.92 rate will drop; which is exactly what economic pundits are predicting.
Most importantly, consider the period that was just superseded: it was in place since about June 2013, and the A$:$US exchange rate applied by Apple during the period was 1.00; i.e. US$0.99 was A$0.99. During that time, the actual exchange rate has averaged around 0.90, and ranged between 0.87 and 0.97, meaning Australians have had better prices than on the US Store for that entire 6 month period. The current change is a correction, with a clear bearish bias.
But you won’t see any articles in the regular press about that; one only sees articles picking out when the pricing is Australia is disadvantageous.