Want to buy the Iphone 3G in India, read this essential post !

iphone 3G india

Well the Iphone 3G will soon have its worldwide launch, but India stands to miss out yet again. While the Iphone is being launched even as we speak , its interesting to note the implications of the launch on Indian Iphone 3G enthusiasts:

1. India will most probably have an August 2008 launch for the Iphone 3G, unlike the normal perception India is having a deferred launch for the new Iphone. This has been confirmed by both Airtel and Vodafone.

2. The first operator to launch the Iphone 3G would be Vodafone in India, its expected to be a soft launch with a limited number of handsets. Vodafone beat Airtel to getting to be the pioneer handset manufacturer to procure the sets. Airtel will ofcourse launch soon afterwards, or may delay the launch till Diwali in order to get better sales. It will be interesting to note how Airtel combats the advantage that Vodafone will have of launching the Iphone early on in India before anyone else.

3. The price, as you know price is THE most important factor in the Indian market. The original Iphone was infact never launched in India many say due to the pricing. Anyway, the Iphone will not be $199 in India. Most are expecting it to be anywhere from 12000 rupees to 14000 rupees.

Also, unlike last time you wont be able to import and unlock, as the Iphones will be exclusively store activated in the US,the plan desertion and leaving charges will be enormous, making importing the Iphone 3G an expensive affair.

Keep looking at this space for more Iphone infomation !

17 thoughts to “Want to buy the Iphone 3G in India, read this essential post !”

  1. Makes you wonder how stupid Apple is, pricing the Iphone so high, making it exclusive to Airtel and Vodafone, locking it and relocking it so it doesnt work with most major networks, delaying the launch, and then acting like they love their customers.

  2. Yup Apple is pretty strict about their locking, also they brick the cellphones which people may have unlocked, I guess they chose Airtel and Vodafone, as they are the most expensive networks in India and they hope they can get their apple culture.

    But anyway if the Apple new Iphone 3G costs 15000 Indian rupees, no one is going to buy it. Atleast the number will be much lesser.

  3. The iPhone released everywhere else for $199 is compensated in the vendor plan for cost of production. That is, Apple recovers the rest of the amount through the data plan that the user is put through.

    The iPhone in India will cost about the same as the iPod touch or a tad higher.

    Major networks: Well I doubt there are any CDMA options to come for the iPhone and that will rule out Reliance and Tata. (If that is meant by Major Networks)

    And lastly, Apple will try to sell the product to customers already owning a PC / Mac or capable of doing so. As it has been observed with many iPod customers in india, who never knew that a PC may be required to put the music into it in the first place. A higher price bracket and shorter recovery on cost price also wards off such troubled customers.

  4. “Major networks: Well I doubt there are any CDMA options to come for the iPhone and that will rule out Reliance and Tata. (If that is meant by Major Networks)”

    I think IDEA, Spice Telecom, MTNL, BSNL etc. are major players, and depriving them of the iPhone isnt a smart move.

  5. “And lastly, Apple will try to sell the product to customers already owning a PC / Mac or capable of doing so. As it has been observed with many iPod customers in india, who never knew that a PC may be required to put the music into it in the first place. A higher price bracket and shorter recovery on cost price also wards off such troubled customers.”

    Most people who will buy the 8000 rupee ($199) Iphone too will have a PC at home, my kaam waali bai has a PC for her kids 😉 , the iPhone probably costs only around $100 to make if we take the component cost and assembly cost. Apple will also be earning a lot through their app store, i had read somewhere that they will take 30% of all sales from their app store. Vodafone and Airtel i dont know if they will get any profit from Iphone apps sold via the App store to customers.

  6. I really hope the Iphone 3G in India is priced reasonably by Airtel and Vodafone, anything above 12000 indian rupees will be a killer by Apple, it needs to respect the price sensitivities that come with the new Iphone launch in India.

  7. Regarding the first logic:
    IDEA is a major player, and probably would have been a better choice over Vodafone, but history as shown us that IDEA is still struggling to get Blackberry and their GPRS service into proper play. (although user experiences may vary)

    Regarding the second logic:
    “My kaam wali also has a PC”.. well then your ‘kaam wali’ is welcome to use the iPhone as well. Problem is, what will she do with it? It’s not what the user wants to buy but what they actually require. Probably a Nokia would do just fine for her, or probably she has a Nokia N-something already. While we are at it, lets get a Blackberry for her with Enterprise package for her as well. 🙂

    Lastly:
    Sooner or later probably everyone will have an iPhone. As with the iPod which came in initially with the highest price bracket possible for a MP3 player. It is simply done to rake in more money with the hype and gain penetration in the market. Today almost everyone has a Nano which is smaller and cheaper. Those who don’t sport the white headphones that came with their Cell Phones or ‘Other’ MP3 players.

    It will be similar for the iPhone as well. As time passes by, a newer smaller and better model will replace this one and all the tech that went into making this will get repackaged to enter as a cheaper model.

  8. Hi friend..

    My sister stays in US.
    I asked my sister to get an Iphone for me, i.e. 199$(Rs. 8500),
    But she replied that, They are not getting the unlocked Iphone in US and they are only getting iPhone with a 2 year contract with AT&T, and that is why, she is not able to get for me.
    Do you know any other possibility,
    Please reply asap, as she is coming to India end of July.

    Thanks in advance,

    Vikas

  9. @Vikas: Getting it from US is probably not a good idea. The fun of the iPhone is in the software that it will have inside it. However, a hacked or open phone may not be updatable through internet as it may return to its locked status. Usability will be limited as well.

  10. On a much lighter note, we had this comment on a previous post (please note that wisetechie.com doesnt endorse these extreme methods :P) :

    How to get rid of AT&T contract on the Iphone :

    1. Sell your current contract. For this you can use CellSwapper, CellTradeUSA or Resellular.

    2. Start complaining to AT&T like a little girl about everything you can think of and force them to end the contract. Also, a mention about some government agency wouldn’t hurt.

    3. Wait for a change in rates, like text-messages rates, and then you have the right to cancel the contract.

    4. Move somewhere outside the plan’s coverage area. Ok, this could mean you must move to Cambodia but hey, it’s the iPhone we’re talking about.

    5. Joined the armed forces. If you are called to “active duty” you can automatically cancel your contract. No comment.

    6. Fax in your death certificate, or, to be more realistic, have someone fax it for you. This is extreme but, remember, you must get the iPhone, and nothing can stop you.

  11. “My kaam wali also has a PC”.. well then your ‘kaam wali’ is welcome to use the iPhone as well. Problem is, what will she do with it? It’s not what the user wants to buy but what they actually require. Probably a Nokia would do just fine for her, or probably she has a Nokia N-something already. While we are at it, lets get a Blackberry for her with Enterprise package for her as well. 🙂 ”

    She actually has a second hand 6600 , which is a cool phone, although i doubt she understands whats symbian about. Blackberry, hmmm , i guess push email would make her more accessible 😛

  12. @Shiva Das Gupta
    “Blackberry, hmmm , i guess push email would make her more accessible”.. well that I guess will be “Literally Pushing it”. LOL

    But I guess there will be a day when Email will reach that level.

  13. Hellooooooooo……Excuse me? What was the article about? Was it about iphone In India Or Kaamwalees Using Mobiles???
    Anyway, I must Say that I’m not at all surprised by Apple’s marketing stratagy of iphone in India.Firstly, the indian IT market is ruled by “******” I mean Misrosoft.Its obvious that the indian Gov. has a deal with Bill “MultiMillionDollar” Gates & so the market is not OPEN..(Just consider that Microsoft has a India oriented product base,Apple Does’t.Have you wondered why?)
    Secondly, if you know apple you know that it is a very American company.And For America we are …….you know what
    For big American & European Companies the Indian market is more or less like a Sabji Mandi.i.e. you just have to sit with your product,no matter how bad or good it is there is always enough people who would invest eventually.

  14. Anyway, I must Say that I’m not at all surprised by Apple’s marketing stratagy of iphone in India.Firstly, the indian IT market is ruled by “******” I mean Microsoft.Its obvious that the indian Gov. has a deal with Bill “MultiMillionDollar” Gates & so the market is not OPEN..(Just consider that Microsoft has a India oriented product base,Apple Does’t.Have you wondered why?)

    Secondly, if you know apple you know that it is a very American company.And For America we are …….you know what

    According to me Apple is a very elitist company, they care very less about their customers. The Ipods which sell for 18k in India cost Apple barely $100 to make as has been proven by many electronics experts who took apart the Ipod ,and attract very little duty being IT products, still they are this expensive in India.

    Apple doesnt want everyone to have Apple products, thats their thing, there is a society of Apple customers and they would prefer to keep it that way , sharing the ‘apple experience’. If Microsoft encourages Indian customers, nothing wrong in it, the Xbox 360’s India launch was in sync with the worldwide launch.

    For big American & European Companies the Indian market is more or less like a Sabji Mandi.i.e. you just have to sit with your product,no matter how bad or good it is there is always enough people who would invest eventually.

    Dont know what you mean here ?

  15. Well its not bad that Microsoft has a India orienteted product base & with it they have gained a reach over the Indian market.But its only possible because it has monopoly over the software market in India.So, here computers means microsoft.We will never know that there is so much more than “Only Microsoft”.

    My 2nd para was just an expression which meant that for weastern bigshots, Indian market is a quantity market,not quality one.Very much so for Apple and Co.

    Now I totally agree with what you said about Apple.But I’m not sure that only the price tag of Apple’s products made it difficult for Apple to penetrate the Indian market.ipod was a revolutionary New product(it was much more than a mp3 player).Every new product is highly priced.Just remember how much a PC would cost you 10 to 15 years ago? Or a cellphone?So I would say that price doesn’t always matter.I think we (Indian Gov. Bodies) didn’t co-operated with Apple as we did with Microsoft.Isn’t it obvious?

    Apple came up with iphone on june 2007.Another mindblowing product.They have filed 300 patents related to the technology behind the iPhone.Priced at around 22k.High priced?Well may be.Can you blame them?

  16. Apple came up with iphone on june 2007.Another mindblowing product.They have filed 300 patents related to the technology behind the iPhone.Priced at around 22k.High priced?Well may be.Can you blame them?

    IF the cost is justified then its ok, but Apple artificially drives up the price of the Iphone and Ipod, thats what i hate.

  17. According to me Apple is a very elitist company, they care very less about their customers. The Ipods which sell for 18k in India cost Apple barely $100 to make as has been proven by many electronics experts who took apart the Ipod ,and attract very little duty being IT products, still they are this expensive in India.

    The iPods and iPhones alike (as pointed out by someone else as well) take a lot of innovations and design to get to that shape. That ‘lot’ is actually money. It is that simple difference of research budget that creates the difference between a Samsung and an iPhone. Although both may be expensive, the iPhone will be more user friendly while the Samsung will come loaded with a million things which are impossible to use.

    As for someone pointing out that if you take apart an iPhone and count the pennies, well.. again ‘it’s not really a fruit even though it’s apple’.. innovation and design has a cost, its the cost that makes an iPod different from a transcend MP3 player. Both play music, i can guarantee that both sound almost the same, but it’s the iPod you want to buy.

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