iPhones to become cheaper
By
siliconindia news bureau
Mumbai: The iPhone buzz may become more with this catchy device getting cheaper by more than 15 percent. As a measure to boost up the sales, the Apple may drop iPhone's price by at least Rs 5,000, says Anshul Gupta, principal analyst with Gartner.
Gupta said, "At current prices, we expect iPhone to sell primarily among those who cannot wait for Apple or the operators to cut prices," he said. "It will be a volumes game then for the operators to clear out their stocks before Apple announces a new version of iPhone." The current figure shows much lesser sales figure in India compared to the global figure. While in India it has sold only 5000 pieces, the worldwide figure goes up to million units. Even the most revered mobile service providers like Vodafone and Airtel, have no words to explain the lower sales. Moreover, a decline in the average revenue per user (ARPU) is viewed as says Girish Trivedi, deputy director (ICT Practice), Frost & Sullivan , "As service providers penetrate deeper into the country, getting new customers who don't spend more than $8-10 a month on their phone bills, they will rely on devices like iPhone to cushion their ARPUs in the urban areas."
In India, the 3G version of iPhone sells for more than triple its U.S. price tag. The eight-gigabyte model of the phone, which includes a built-in iPod and a desktop-class web browser, sells for Rs 31,000, while the 16GB version goes for Rs 36,100. Amid the confetti and cheerleaders at its launch on August 22, the price was perceived to be a discordant note.
One important point is the outrageous price tag of the 3G iPhone which is triple of the U.S. price. It is this that has limited the sales of the phone. The 1G iPhone devices are estimated to have a user base of around 30,000 but coming to 3G it can grow if the price is lowered. Airtel and Vodafone can between them theoretically carry it to almost 105.2 million subscribers. However, iPhone falls in the smart phone category, whose market is estimated at 10 million by 2010.
There are an estimated 30,000 users of iPhone (first generation devices) in India, and the operators are hoping to get past this number with iPhone 3G. However, the price tag has limited Apple to an extremely small portion of the 260 million mobile subscribers in India. The market expectations have grown bleak as a dealer points out, in Business Standard, "Earlier in July, I had delivered 15 iPhone 2G handsets (priced at Rs 22,000) to my customers from all over Maharashtra and in August I had bookings for almost 20 iPhone 3G of which 10 customers have already cancelled their bookings. The customers, are looking to buy from Airtel and Vodafone since the grey market price is only slightly lower." It is felt that the operators are engaging on some strategic plans to through exclusive data plans.
Gupta said, "At current prices, we expect iPhone to sell primarily among those who cannot wait for Apple or the operators to cut prices," he said. "It will be a volumes game then for the operators to clear out their stocks before Apple announces a new version of iPhone." The current figure shows much lesser sales figure in India compared to the global figure. While in India it has sold only 5000 pieces, the worldwide figure goes up to million units. Even the most revered mobile service providers like Vodafone and Airtel, have no words to explain the lower sales. Moreover, a decline in the average revenue per user (ARPU) is viewed as says Girish Trivedi, deputy director (ICT Practice), Frost & Sullivan , "As service providers penetrate deeper into the country, getting new customers who don't spend more than $8-10 a month on their phone bills, they will rely on devices like iPhone to cushion their ARPUs in the urban areas."
In India, the 3G version of iPhone sells for more than triple its U.S. price tag. The eight-gigabyte model of the phone, which includes a built-in iPod and a desktop-class web browser, sells for Rs 31,000, while the 16GB version goes for Rs 36,100. Amid the confetti and cheerleaders at its launch on August 22, the price was perceived to be a discordant note.
One important point is the outrageous price tag of the 3G iPhone which is triple of the U.S. price. It is this that has limited the sales of the phone. The 1G iPhone devices are estimated to have a user base of around 30,000 but coming to 3G it can grow if the price is lowered. Airtel and Vodafone can between them theoretically carry it to almost 105.2 million subscribers. However, iPhone falls in the smart phone category, whose market is estimated at 10 million by 2010.
There are an estimated 30,000 users of iPhone (first generation devices) in India, and the operators are hoping to get past this number with iPhone 3G. However, the price tag has limited Apple to an extremely small portion of the 260 million mobile subscribers in India. The market expectations have grown bleak as a dealer points out, in Business Standard, "Earlier in July, I had delivered 15 iPhone 2G handsets (priced at Rs 22,000) to my customers from all over Maharashtra and in August I had bookings for almost 20 iPhone 3G of which 10 customers have already cancelled their bookings. The customers, are looking to buy from Airtel and Vodafone since the grey market price is only slightly lower." It is felt that the operators are engaging on some strategic plans to through exclusive data plans.
Reader's comments(8)
1: Guys I would say wait until it comes down to
$199 (9k+) let us teach Vodafone and Airtel a
lesson for cartelling to cheat. I am sure
Reliance will strike a deal with Apple and
come with this offer sometime soon....
Posted by: Pradeep - 12:00 AM Oct 14, ' 08
2: I believe this was their marketing planning
as in india expensive thing always make an
positive impact, they have got their desired
publicity, now they'll surely reduce the
prices with adding some new features.
SO WAIT TILL THEN.
SO WAIT TILL THEN.
Posted by: Rajul Pratap - 12:00 AM Sep 01, ' 08
3: I was waiting for this phone since it launch
in US. Also I thought I would be one of the
first buyers of the phone. But considering
the price tag in India, It is not worth
spending such a hefty amount on the phone. I
am a die-hard IPOD and IPHONE fan, but the
price tag is keeping me away to own. No
wonders Vodafone and Airtel have low sales
for the product. Wait guys till the price
drops to 20K or you can go for good options
in HTC.
Posted by: Vishal Madan - 12:00 AM Sep 01, ' 08
4: All the articles that I was reading about the
price of iPhone in India give an incorrect
comparison. These articles are mentioning
that the price of iPhone in US is way too low
(they seem to refer to the subsidized price
of $199 from AT&T), but this is so incorrect.
Without the 2 year commitment, the price of
iPhone in US is $599 for the 8GB 3G iPhone
and the phone is still locked to AT&T at that
price. No wonder why the gray market is not
able to sell iPhone any cheaper than the
official price of Rs. 31,000 for the 8 GB
model when the price in US is $599 * 43
(Rupees per dollar) is about Rs.25,000.
Posted by: Sud-Tad - 12:00 AM Sep 01, ' 08
5: I have been using iPhone for the past 8
months. Looking back, the only "attractive"
features are a) keyboard less touch controls,
screen-size, desktop-quality browsing
experience and userfriendliness (extremly
good and intuitive navigation). However,
these features are necessary but not
essential. On the contrary, some of the
features like message forwarding, Blu-tooth
for data transfer, video recording and FM are
quite essential, but sadly missing. My
suggestion is to wait and watch the fun of
it's price falling to it's actual worth. Grab
it when the price comes down to Rs 20K+,
which in my opinion is going to happen within
the next 4-5 months.
Posted by: Gopal Holla - 12:00 AM Sep 01, ' 08
6:
Why is it so insanely over-priced?? technology & navigation is great - agreed, but still pricing should have been re-considered, they're struggling to sell.
Also, it lacks basic utility features like forwarding sms, no video recording & other compatibility issues.....
Why is it so insanely over-priced?? technology & navigation is great - agreed, but still pricing should have been re-considered, they're struggling to sell.
Also, it lacks basic utility features like forwarding sms, no video recording & other compatibility issues.....
Posted by: Atul - 12:00 AM Sep 01, ' 08
7: Even i thought of booking Iphone but what
made me to cancel is that because of its
prize tag. Moreover i heard that it does not
support bluetooth, only 2mp camera, No
flash, No removable battery, no FM radio and
if want to add third party softwares??. . YOU
HAVE TO BUY THEM FROM iTUNES STORE ONLY!!!
........
Posted by: Indraneel - 12:00 AM Sep 01, ' 08
8: Ofcourse no one is so desperate to go for
this device for such an amount.. this is a
very necessary measure..
Posted by: gaurav - 12:00 AM Aug 31, ' 08
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