“The iPhone pricing [in Inida] is so steep that several potential customers were massively disappointed, even outraged, going by local media reports. The princely sum of 31,000 rupees ($720) for the 8-gigabyte iPhone and 36,100 rupees ($840) for the 16 GB version was too high for even such a cool gizmo,” V. Phani Kumar reports for MarketWatch.
“Additionally, Bharti is asking for a deposit of 5,000 rupees, while Vodafone is reportedly seeking twice as much. What’s worse, India has yet to auction the frequency spectrum required by mobile operators to start offering 3G, and a formal 3G launch is estimated to take up to a year. So even the rich, cool dudes who manage to get themselves an iPhone will only be able to enjoy the low-speed applications that they had access to anyway on their phones earlier,” Kumar reports.
“During the April-June quarter, Bharti earned 350 rupees a month as average revenue per user, implying that the company’s average customer can continue using the old phone for 9.8 years more, if he or she decides against buying a 16 GB iPhone, at a cost of 41,100 rupees (phone cost of 36,100, plus deposit of 5,000 rupees),” Kumar reports.
“Put another way, a fresh graduate recruited by one of India’s leading software companies will have to pay 1.6 times his or her pretax monthly salary of 25,000 rupees to satisfy an impulse to own the iPhone.
Needless to say, Apple needs to rework its iPhone pricing in India if it hopes to attract a respectable number of customers in this poor but rapidly growing economy. Even if it doesn’t, other mobile operators and other handset makers probably have much to gain from the iPhone’s launch anyway,” Kumar writes.
Kumar writes, “All industry players, not just Bharti and Vodafone, will gain from the iPhone, whether or not Apple does.”
Full article here.
A rising tide lifts… (long pause) …Sorry, I smoked weed with the president and I totally forgot what I was going to say.
Love the Harold and Kumar reference!
Not a big fan of the ridiculous prices in India. But it’s not Apple doing the price gouging. It’s frickin’ Vodaphone and Bharti. Idiots.
I am hurt, angered and outraged. I have been disrespected and my feelings hurt. I have been violated and there has been no empathy shown toward me.
I am a whining ass lib.
“I have been violated”
Obviously not by someone who knows how or you wouldn’t be complaining.
And no, you’re just an ass.
clearly not Apple’s pricing scheme! When will these stupid, greedy carriers learn their lesson? Even Rogers, here in monoply land Canada, had to bend a little to the outrage over data rates.
From my iPhone
These carriers aren’t going to curry any favor at this rate.
No one’s been “violated” or otherwise harmed. Buyers have to make a decision on whether they want to spend the money or not. Pretty simple.
That said, it looks like the carriers in India aren’t subsidizing the iPhone like AT&T;is here in the US and other carriers are doing elsewhere. Too bad for Apple and the consumer.
Where’s the beef??
Not in India I guess..
Who cares, India is a cheap country.
At least in China they can come up with the money!
Welcome to our world, India. If you want to go “cheap”, you have your options, just as we do. Wait a few more years when this technology will no longer be bleeding edge and you can get this for a better deal. If you want to go with the latest and greatest, you know that you need to pay a premium for it.
Nothing to see here. The solutions to this problem are very simple.
A) Do not buy such a ridiculously priced bauble unless you simply must have the status symbol. If so, do not complain about the price.
B) Wait. The price will come down.
In the meantime, apply some of the admittedly impressive brain power of India to cleaning up the Ganges, providing civil rights for women, feeding the poor, and maybe preventing the sale of nuclear technology to religious maniacs. You really don’t need iPhones for any of that.
I bought it for 36100 and the 5k deposit is deducted from the total amount so the article got it wrong.
Lovin my 16 gigger. Wish it were cheaper obviously, but after waiting a year to get my hands on it ….. I can say no regrets!
also, both the carriers are pointing the blame at Apple for supposedly setting the high price. They’re saying they aren’t making any money from selling the phone. Bollocks I say!
And we want these people doing our tech support????
Selling a phone that has no coverage (no frequency),
No buyers,
and no political (greed) sense.
Its india for you.
Just a thought.
en
Well, when youe have a national economy that is designed to lowball American wages and undercut American tech jobs, don’t complain if you can’t buy plasma televisions and iPhones. You made your own bed. Lie in it.
Do those prices include the plan too or is that just the phone? How much are the plans?
So…what happened to the 199 US dollar world price point?
The plans don’t change from whatever you had before.. you can even use prepaid (pay as you go) sim cards.. also they have a free EDGE plan that lets you download 500 mb per month and no monthly rental. I pay about 20-30 dollars a month on my cell phone bill.
They have made iPhone launch a joke in India. iPhone at Rs 14-15K would have killed Nokia or any other brand for that matter. Plus, if Airtel had made the 2-year contract necessary people would have still bought it. Trust me I am using Airtel for the past 4 years. And imagine the amount of market Airtel would have simply captured for the next 2 years, without the fear of loosing these people for next 2 years. I guess Nokia people must be laughing like crazy at Apple
I have been let down after waiting for one and half year. I am going to try Grey Market.
You must have some deep seated need to include some jibe against ‘religion’ in every post.
MW: girl
How appropriate.
“…a fresh graduate recruited by one of India’s leading software companies will have to pay 1.6 times his or her pretax monthly salary of 25,000 rupees to satisfy an impulse to own the iPhone.”
But what a babe magnet!
Why doesn’t Apple open its own store in India and sell that same iPhone for the local equivalent of $199/$299? Then the local telcos can charge for the service itself, showing it’s not Apple that’s trying to screw the customer.
@cptnkirk
Just got my first bill from Rogers and my Data Usage was just over 42MBs for the first three weeks. Just checked a couple of friends and they have similar numbers.
Looks like it will be pretty hard to use 400MBS let alone the 6Gbs I got.
By the way, Rogers called to inform me yesterday that roaming in the US was normally 3¢/kb but to us iPhone users, the charge is now 6/10 of a cent per kb, now that is cheap compared to the rest of the world.
I’ll bet Vodaphone and Bharti refused to pay Apple the per-iPhone subsidy like all the other carriers, and no other major player stepped up to meet Apple’s demands. So, instead of ignoring the huge market, that higher price is essentially the “full” price. It explains why there is no exclusivity in that market.
I have a feeling the same thing will happen in China.
RE: MDN Take,
I just saw that movie over the weekend! Good timing, huh.
@Imad,
“So…what happened to the 199 US dollar world price point?”
That must have been in a dream of yours. Apple never said anything even close to that.