For two brief days, Indian iPhone fans held out hope that they might be able to get the gadget for less than the $715 price tag that Vodafone (NYSE: VOD) India put on the 8 gigabyte model, and $830 for the 16 gigabyte one. But there will be no price war, as Bharti Airtel, the other Indian carrier to sell the iPhone, released its prices today, matching Vodafone
No iPhone Price War In India; Airtel Comes In At The Same Crazy Price
Summary:
For two brief days, Indian iPhone fans held out hope that they might be able to get the gadget for less than the $715 price tag that Vodafon…
Its most unfortunate that these two Indian companies came with such absurd pricing. especially when other manufacturers are gearing with their Iphone killer launch in India soon. Nokia with Tube (09) and Samsung and LG with their constantly getting better touch phone capabilities.I hope their come up with revise pricing within 2 -3 months time,or they loose the major chunk of the customers who are in price bracket of 15 to 20 K and willing buyers.
"this is big money even for a professional Indian IT worker whose average salary ranges from $12,000 to $24,000. " That's a very big misreresntation…
Salary ranges on an averages in IT industry for 2007-2008 was between for freshers vs 5 yrs experienced were Rs.18000 and Rs.43000 Respectively, (Ranging from approx 400 to 900) USD…
Only people with black money like Mukesh Ambani can buy at this price.
I think this salary range was given on annual basis and not monthly as interpreted by you….so max salary will still be 12,000 usd, in any case i agree that this pricing is astounding….i hope they get more realistic in coming months….
yup! it is overpriced. I would certainly not buy it
The pricing is *hardly* unexpected – *everybody* knew that the iPhone was going to cost upwards of Rs. 30k – pretty much in line with global pricing. As for Vodafone and Airtel undercutting each other on price – again, it was never going to happen – Apple just wouldn't allow it.
While all the talk about the iPhone being the Nokia killer is in my opinion, rubbish, I do feel that the the Bangalore reader above is too far on the other extreme. While the population is small, I think that you'll find a lot of middle managers / businessmen that currently have a Blackberry (but don't *really* need it) moving to the iPhone.
Gautam Kshatriya
gautam.kshatriya@moneyvidya.com
http://www.moneyvidya.com
Gautam – I get your point on the Blackberry but let's face it, faced with the one service that Blackberry is eponymous for, the Apple doesn't really stand up to it.
Also, the middle managers / business men that currently have a Blackberry but don't need them breed are mostly people who have been thrust the phone on them by their offices. I don't see either the companies beginning to dole out 30k Personal Media centres cum phones (read iPhones) nor the middle managers spending Rs. 30,000 from their own pockets for a "second phone". Yes, the business men might be keen on it.
The other line of thought which probably answers this crazy price announcement is that in the US, the operator, AT&T;sells the phone bundled with a contract whereby call charges help offset the cost of the hardware which the operator absorbed.
However, with call charges in India already being among the cheapest in the world, its really hard to see how usage will help offset the hardware cost for Airtel or Vodafone.
Imagine a service plan with Rs. 2500 as rental with 500 minutes bundled – I am not sure how many people might lap up that offering.
This pricing is not acceptable.In a news it is told that iphone lacks facilities like text message forwarding ,cut & paste and bluetooth sharing.
wow! it is overpriced. I am not going to buy it !!!