Apple increased the prices of its accessories and devices in Turkey by up to 22% as of Monday, its second hike in just three months.
Customers will now have to cash out between $1,250 and $2,500 for Apple’s flagship iPhone 13 series, depending on model and storage.
Prices of iPhone 13 smartphones have been hiked between 17.5% and 22.2%, with the most affordable model – iPhone 13 mini – now having a starting price tag of nearly TL 21,000, up 20% from around TL 17,500.
The prices go as high as TL 41,800 for a 1-terabyte Pro Max, known as the most expensive iPhone yet. The price is up 18.1% from TL 35,400. The highest-end model had a price tag of around TL 23,000 after its launch in September 2021.
The standard iPhone 13 now starts at TL 22,499, up 18.4%, while iPhone 13 Pro and iPhone 13 Pro Max begin at nearly TL 29,999, a hike of 20%, and TL 32,999, up nearly 18%, respectively.
Apple has scrambled to keep up with the global chip shortage and supply chain disruptions. In Turkey, prices soared amid high volatility in the exchange rates.
The Turkish lira declined as far as 16.669 to the United States dollar on Tuesday from a close of 16.58 on Monday. It has weakened 21% this year, on top of a 44% slide in 2021 after a series of interest rate cuts.
Apple has lifted iPhone prices in Turkey by around 40% on average since the beginning of the year. It delivered a hike of between 14% and 19% in March.
Prices of Apple products remain very high, given that the minimum wage in Turkey stands at TL 4,250 per month, a figure that converted to more than $275 at the start of the year.
The wage was hiked by some 50% as of January as the government sought to safeguard households from soaring inflation.
Fueled by soaring food and energy prices, Turkey’s annual inflation rate rose at a lower-than-expected pace in May but still jumped to a 24-year high of 73.5%.
The government says inflation will fall under its new economic program, which prioritizes low-interest rates to boost production and exports to achieve a current account surplus.
The gross domestic product (GDP) per capita in the country stood at TL 85,672 in 2021, according to official data.
