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Weak yen leads Apple, others to ramp up tech prices

A weak currency is bad news for Japanese consumers.
Written by Charlie Osborne, Contributing Writer
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Foreign firms including Apple have hiked up prices in Japan as a response to the country's weakening currency.

On Friday, Japanese consumers were met with higher iPad and iPod prices, as reported by Reuters. Apple's mobile device product hike adds the company to a growing list of foreign firms requiring Japanese consumers to pay extra as Japan's yen continues to lose value.

Since November last year, the yen has fallen over 20 percent in relation to the United States dollar.

In order to combat deflation, the previous opposition leader Shinzo Abe was at the forefront of radical measures to reverse a trend of falling consumer prices. The Bank of Japan then promised to achieve two percent inflation in two years and planned to inject $1.4 trillion into the economy. The deflation-fighting measures have resulted in the yen weakening beyond 100 per dollar and dropping 4.3 percent since April 4 this year.

Japan's financial policies will be in place until two percent gains in consumer prices are established and stable.

This means that companies touting their products in the Asian country are responding. Apple has raised the price of iPad models by up to 13,000 yen ($130); an Apple employee telling the publication that the 64GB version will now cost 69,800 yen, up from 58,800 yen just a day ago. In addition, iPod prices have risen by up to 6,000 yen, and the iPad Mini now costs an additional 8,000 yen.

Apple is not the only tech giant responding to the financial situation in Japan. Tiffany & Co and appliance maker Miele have also raised their product prices, and Volkswagen AG is considering a vehicle price hike of 1.5 percent. Panasonic is also debating whether to bump up the price of consumer appliances.

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