Arab News Japan

TOKYO: In recent months, inflation has hit the West hard thanks to the impacts of COVID and Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, but Japan has weathered the economic storm quite well. Despite, Apple have hiked up the prices for their products. 

Mac computers increased in price early in June and significant price rises for its other products have followed, reports IT Media News.

Japan’s core inflation rate hit 2.1 percent in June and, according to the Bank of Japan is not expected to rise much further within the next year and could fall in 2023. Japan’s biggest economic problem in recent years has been deflation rather than inflation, but Apple has seen a need to impose massive price rises on its products.

The company raised prices for Macs on June 7, but prices for iPhones, iPads, and AirPods remained unaltered. However, this changed on July 1 with increases of up to 40,000 yen.

The 128GB iPhone 13 Pro Max was raised from 134,800 yen (about $1000) to 159,800 yen, and the 256GB version from 146,800 yen to 174,800 yen. The price of the 1TB model increased by 40,000 yen from 194,800 yen to 234,800 yen, according to IT Media.

The iPad Pro series was raised from 94,800 yen to 117,800 yen for the 11-inch 128GB model and the 12.9-inch 128GB model went from 129,800 yen to 159,800 yen. The price of the 2TB model increased by 63,000 yen from 261,800 yen to 324,800 yen.

In addition, the prices of Apple Watch, AirPods and Apple Pencils were also raised, and the most likely reason is the massive devaluation of the yen.

Bank of Japan Governor KURODA Haruhiko said, “unlike other economies, the Japanese economy has not been much affected by the global inflationary trend, so monetary policy will continue to be accommodative.”