Apple Decides Against Plans To Cut iTunes Prices

Apple has decided not to cut the cost of downloading an individual song from its iTunes music store in the UK because of the changing economy.

The U-turn comes six months after the company promised to lower prices so that its UK customers were not charged more than their European counterparts.

Currently a song on iTunes costs 79p to download in the UK and 0.99 euros in Europe. In January, the exchange rate meant UK users were paying 5p more than European users.

In a statement, Apple, who made the initial announcement following a European Union investigation, said the plans were “no longer necessary” because the exchange rate had evened out the difference.

The statement failed to clarify whether the company would alter prices should the exchange rate fluctuate further, but did say it hoped to keep prices “standardised”.

Meanwhile, Apple announced late yesterday (July 14th) that the company had sold over 1 million iPhone 3G's in just three days.

The figures for the device, which boasts faster download speeds than the first generation phone, have helped the company take a giant step towards its target of selling 10 million iPhones by the end of 2008.