Kakao to raise prices of emojis for iOS users from Oct. 6

Kakao will raise the price of its emojis starting Oct. 6 for iOS users, following Apple's announcement last month that it would increase the price of in-app products in some countries. Apple said on Sept. 19 that it will bring up the price ..

Kakao will raise the price of its emojis starting Oct. 6 for iOS users, following Apple’s announcement last month that it would increase the price of in-app products in some countries.

Apple said on Sept. 19 that it will bring up the price tiers of apps and in-app purchases in some parts of the world including Korea, Japan and nations that use euros. The company did not give a reason, but a Bloomberg report cited that “the strong dollar may be a key driver.”

App Store prices are charged by tiers. In Korea, tier 1 will be increased from 1,200 won ($0.83) to 1,500 won, tier 2 from 2,500 won to 3,000 won and so on. The highest 87th tier will be increased to 1.49 million won from the previous 1.19 million won.

Kakao’s new price tags are in line with Apple. The price of chocos, digital tokens bought within the app to buy emojis on the KakaoTalk messenger app, will be raised. The cost of 100 chocos, the minimum amount, will be increased from 1,200 won to 1,500 won, 200 chocos from 2,500 won to 3,000 won and 300 chocos from 3,900 won to 4,400 won.

Local game companies, which will also be affected by the new policy, said they are maintaining the price of most of their items.

BY YOON SO-YEON [yoon.soyeon@joongang.co.kr]