Is India the last on Apple's radar for iPads?
By siliconindia   |   Thursday, 02 December 2010, 18:01 IST   |    3 Comments
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Is India the last on Apple's radar for iPads?
New Delhi: Although the iPad is officially available across India, consumers have not yet got a glance of the gadget even after 11 months of its release in U.S. Not just late arrival, consumers are burdened to buy the funky gadget in bulk reports Harsimran Julka & Srividya Iyer Even though the $65-billion technology giant has opened outlets and franchise stores through its partners like Reliance Digital, Vijay Sales, Croma and Imagine, a large number of cult products remain off the shelves, or arrive late in the stores. Despite being home to 650 million mobile subscribers and witnessing 80-million in PC sales every year, India is ignored by Apple products because there is no differentiated pricing which is based on a marketing campaign. "They are either not getting the signal from India or they are just ignoring it," says Prof S Sadagopan, director-IIT-Bangalore. "It is an enigma. I don't think any other country has as many Apple fans. They may think they may not make money here. But what is there in Steve Jobs' mind, no one knows," he adds. What this leads to is distorted pricing and a thriving grey market. Says an Apple dealer in Delhi: "The 16GB iPad would be sold at Rs 32,000, including the "facilitation fee." This rate is almost Rs 10,000 more when compared to the $499-tag on Stockton Street in San Francisco of $499. Apart from price distortions, cheap and fake iPods are found aplenty in local electronics markets in Bangalore or Delhi. Not merely in hardware, but India remains last on Apple's radar when it comes to software R&D, even though its rivals like Nokia, Microsoft and Google have large development centres here. Apple responds by saying that its vision is neither country- nor market-specific. "It is across the markets. We cannot comment on the business details or any numbers and we do not have such break-ups," said an Apple spokesperson in India, when asked about Apple's apathy towards the Indian market. However experts say, "Apple never targets the mass market. Though almost five tablet PC makers have launched their devices in last two months in India, attraction for iPad might not fade, as the total Apple experience is unmatched," says Vishal Tripathi, principal research analyst at technology consultants Gartner. Some experts also say that the high premium of Apple products might be fallout of the high duty structure. The delay in launch of iPad locally may be a factor of 3G services not yet becoming live in most telecom circles, they aver. Apple, however, chooses to wait-and-watch.

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