Steve Jobs consider India a dumping yard?
By siliconindia   |   Wednesday, 16 March 2011, 01:25 IST   |    56 Comments
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Steve Jobs consider India a dumping yard?
Bangalore: This is the question which annoys many tech savvy Indians today. Why Apple products doesnt reach India even after the next release of the product is coming near? Take the case of iPhone 4. Even as the Americans are waiting for the White iphone 4 and the next version of the same, Apple hasnt announced any plans of the official launch of iPhone4 in India. Ipad 1 too came to India much later. Tech-savvy Indians have been keeping their fingers crossed hoping that Apple would put an end to its shoddy treatment of the Indian market and India would soon be figured in the list of launch countries for Apple products. But the Cupertino technology giant still chooses to ignore their existence. It took almost three hundred and sixty-six days for Apple iPad to reach India after its CEO Steve Jobs announced the genre-defining tablet in the U.S. Apple has again chosen to ignore the tech-savvy Indians by not including India in its list of launch countries for iPad 2. The anger of Indian consumers who want to own their iPad legally had been disregarded. The first Wi-Fi-only iPad was launched in the U.S. on April 3, 2010 and the Wi- Fi plus 3G version was released four weeks later on April 30. With its second phase on May 28, UK, Australia, France, Germany, Italy, Spain, Canada, Japan and Switzerland received their iPads. It was launched in China in September 2010. Finally as iPad made its official debut in India on January 28, 2011, the company maintains its marketing strategy,making it obvious that the Indian market is not large enough to merit a simultaneous launch with other big markets. In the U.S, Apple offered a $100 refund to those who purchased an iPad in February while in India, though the company slashed the price of the device, the discount offer was not available. Similarly, there is still no sign of an official entry of iPhone 4 in India. The much anticipated iPhone 4 was unleashed to the world on June 24, 2010 and was initially available in 17 countries in the Americas, Europe and some in Asia. India's leading telecom operators Airtel and Vodafone had announced that they will bring the smartphone to India during September-October 2010 but no official announcements have come yet. Many industry experts feel that Apple is undervaluing the Indian consumers at its own peril. Android-based smartphones are making their big entry into the Indian market and will consume a lion's share of the growing. However, much to the relief of the Indian gizmo lovers, latest reports suggest that Apple is finalizing on a launch date of Ipad 2 in India. It's learned that Apple partners have expressed their discontent over the delayed launch of iPad 1 and have requested the company to share the date of the launch in advance during the Apple partners meeting held in New Delhi. Nonetheless, given the large number of mobile developers building apps for iPhone from India and the large, ever-growing number of tech-savvy Indian population, one wonders why India does not get the prominence in the global launch and it apparently generates a natural question - Is India a mere dumping ground of late stage and old products for Steve Jobs?