Apple drastically raised its prices on Friday (+ 25% for the iPhone 13!) In Turkey, with spectacular increases often above the minimum wage, against the backdrop of the collapse of the Turkish lira in recent times, a consequence of the much maligned directives of ‘Erdogan.
The Turkish Lira Collapses … Consumers Toast! In particular, Apple customers may cringe. The iPhone 12, one of the brand’s bestsellers, cost 10,999 Turkish pounds on Thursday evening. It was worth 13,999 Friday morning (1,020 euros at the exchange rate of the day), an increase of 3,000 pounds, higher than the local net minimum wage which amounts to 2,825 pounds (205 euros). The iPhone 13 went from 11,999 to 14,999 Turkish liras (+ 25%), an increase above annual inflation, which nevertheless approaches 20% according to official data, and makes the cost of living difficult to bear for many of Turkish families.
“The pound has lost 10-15% [against the dollar on Tuesday], they have to increase their prices”, relativizes Emirhan, left with a pair of headphones from the Apple Store in Gayrettepe, an upscale district located on the European side of Istanbul. As a result of President Erdogan’s monetary policy, deemed irrational by many observers, the Turkish lira had seen its value melt by 13% in a few hours on Tuesday against the dollar, before stopping its fall. In the process, Apple had suspended its online sales in the country, the time to adjust its prices.
“Before, it was very, very expensive. Now it’s very, very, very expensive,” quips Mehmet Mert, 31, left the store empty-handed. “With inflation, to buy something here you have to stop eating,” says the IT manager. Asked by AFP, a manager of the official store refers to customer service for any comments.
On Twitter, a Turkish internet user is ironic about the news of the price increases decided by the Californian giant in Turkey during the “Black Friday” sales everywhere else: “It’s Black Friday today, but guess what we have in this country instead of reductions “.
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