European Commission rules it is unlawful for Apple to charge more for iTunes in UK

Regular readers will know I am a big fan of all things Apple. I buy most of my music from iTunes which generally cost less than buying CDs. They always try very hard to entice me to buy more music and make it very easy and fast to make the purchase.

However. I was concerned to find out that UK buyers pay nearly 10% more for downloads than other European countries. According to Reuters, so were the European Commission who have just ruled that this is unlawful and prices should be the same throughout Europe. I'm not sure whether this means UK prices will drop or European prices will rise but I would be surprised if prices didn't fall to the lower level.

I am not an expert on legal and anti trust laws but if you offer an identical product or service to different consumers at different prices then in an online world, people are likely to find out quickly and ask why. A short term gain is likely to lead to long term pain.

If you are planning to sell to different segments at different prices then consumers need to accept that there are differences between the products or services you offer, otherwise they might think you are ripping them off.

Take cars. The VW group own the Volkswagen, Audi, Seat and Skoda brands. Cars from each brand share many components and offer similar levels of performance, safety and economy. However, the Audi version will cost significantly more than the Skoda but Audi drivers will not feel ripped off because they are buying more than the nuts and bolts: they are buying the Audi brand and how it makes them feel.

The difference with iTunes is a song downloaded in Germany is identical to the song downloaded in the UK and any difference in pricing is seen as being unjustified. 

Perhaps Apple should be offering some additional sample tracks in the UK to justify a different cost which would also probably lead to more sales and higher customer lifetime value as customers bought a 2nd download as a result of liking the samples.

What do you think? 

Remember...web marketing is about solving customers' problems profitably.

Peter Hawtin is an internet marketing specialist with Brand New Way, a UK web marketing agency (based in Wiltshire & Bristol) which helps companies to attract and keep valuable customers online.