Now, before even we get started, let us be clear, no official announcements for India, but we have reasons to believe… Apple announced its Q4 quarter results yesterday and gave interesting numbers and talk during the call. while we will dig deeper into a lot of those figures and analyse the strategy, here is an important bit, Tim Cook commented on the 3GS / iPhone 4 pricing strategy while answering questions. The iPhone 4 has a 8GB avatar selling at $99 in US (with contract) and the iPhone 3GS has gone free.
In India, Apple is selling the iPhone 4 via Aircel and Airtel since a few months and pricing is close to Rs 35,000 to start with. The unlocked 8GB 3GS however dropped down to Rs 19000 approx in India before the 4S was announced and we do not expect any further price-cut there. however Cook’s comments suggests that the iPhone 4 would get cheaper in markets where it is not subsidized.
Cook mentioned during the last earnings call that Apple wants to take the advantage of lower priced iPhones and while the same won’t be free or $99 (3GS & iPhone 4) in pre-paid / unsubsidized markets, it would be lower than the current levels. an iPhone 4 price cut in India along with a 8GB version can be a shot in the arm for iPhone’s market share.
We aren’t sure how the math really works, but the 8GB iPhone is $100 less on contract and if the same is introduced in India, we would expect the pricing to be below Rs 30,000. at the same time we also wonder if the iPhone 4S is coming to India anytime soon? As I speculated earlier, it is logical for the iPhone 4S to launch in India before year end.
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