It’s official. Vodafone will sell the 8GB 3G iPhone for 31,000 rupees ($712) and the 16GB model for 36,100 rupees ($828). And this for a 3G model when India does not even have 3G services yet.
Vodafone and Airtel will launch the 3G Apple iPhone in India on August 22. Airtel is yet to announce its price for the phones but it’s unlikely the pricing will differ much.
The price of the 8GB model in the U.S. is $199 and $299 for the 16GB model. So is buying the iPhone in India worth it or will the grey market rule?
Who will buy the new iPhone? All those who had pre-booked? The ones who want to get the latest gizmo on day one of its official launch in India or the geeks who cherish anything Apple?
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Actually my spouse called me from INDIA, and was telling she really likes it and all the pros of it..Only after some 5 min appreciation of it she told me the price which was something at which a person can buy an PC back home..I just asked her to wait for some time so that we can get one from US…I think it is way cheap in US because the carriers give some subsidies to woo the customers which carriers in INDIA don’t.Maybe if you really like i-phone ask someone to get from US or get a similar one in the greymarket…I think it is not a good deal from AIRTEL / VODAFONE at this moment..
- Posted by vimalbe realistic guys…..wait for couple of months after its release, price will come down. Dont rush to buy……
- Posted by kiran31k..and 36k…..gotta be kidding right???
- Posted by Anirudhconsider selling a hyped phone to a country of over a billion people….something like 25999 and 29999 would have sounded better but above 30k…..thats hell of a price an average Indian would shell out..i’d better stick to my nokia
A monkey carrying a laptop in better than Voda carrying 3Giphone with out 3G services in India.
- Posted by Vemulapalli Ravi Kumarwell, what government is doing? simply sitting behind and watching this greedy idiots doing anything to make profits and that to upto such an extent, don’t they know we’re still a developing country, they should’ve priced it even lower than in US. Don’t we have a body which looks at this idiotic things coming from the minds which are considered to be management scholars. i don’t know about others but i am sure nobody from my family will buy this ticket to stupidity!
- Posted by AbrarOnly Mr.Bean(s) will go for it at this price in India. People with better IQ will go for Better but Cheaper products like W902, C905, N95 etc…………..
- Posted by yilaI too read an article on UTVi (http://utvi.myrecourl.com) where the above prices were confirmed by an unknown Vodafone official. The biggest question is when the Iphone - 3G is priced at $199 (Rs 9k) in US, why is it so expensive in the Indian market?
- Posted by AbhiIts really foolish you just calculate 31000 divided by 47 Rs per bottle of King fisher Beer you will realize if it worthy the buy or value for money.
I recommend you all better go for some good Chinese mobile rather than getting duped by this 3G I pone which is also made in China
THIS PRICING IS THE BIGGEST JOKE OF THE CENTURY
- Posted by shankarI’m not a Apple fanboy. But Apple is a cool company. iPhone is lightyears ahead of other phones. So what if it has only 2MP camera, or it can’t record videos, or cannot use 3G in India, or cannot share files via bluetooth, or can’t use it as external hard drive, or can’t use it as modem,or doesn’t have FM radio, or cannot have my own ringtones, or can’t send MMS or can’t forward messages,or have to use resource hogging iTunes. It is simply cool device. Anything that comes out of Apple, even if it’s a piece of shit, I would do anything to have it in my pocket. Apple is that awesome. Heck I would pay 50000 for this most advanced of all phones. Like I said before I’m not a Apple fanboy.
- Posted by Mr. Sarcasticless features and high price…..i think apple is going to lose this gamble in india. good for nokia it can rule indian market for some more time
- Posted by yugraj singh31000 holy crap……….
- Posted by pramodthe day i heard iphone is going to be launched in india i was really excited and was planning to buy one for myself.i wud hav definately bought the iphone for anywhere b/w 20k, but i am not going to buy it for 31k, no doubt iphone is a great phone, but to be honest it lacks soo many features that even a 15k phone is having these days.. bye bye apple
- Posted by Anas KhanI am really surprised as to why launch of a phone is being so much hyped in the first case.
Most importantly, there are so many drawbacks with the iphone.
a) No Bluetooth (can use only for the headset and not for content transfer)
b) SMS feature isnt gr8 either (which indians use a lot)
c) Inbuilt battery and memory. (in case something goes wrong.. Queue up in front of Apple service center..)
Secondly a phone which is already available in the grey market for the price similar to the US price.. and that too the legitimate ones are given with no 3G services… its unreasonably expensive.. !!!
But given the fact that there are many who just use the latest gadgets to flaunt, the iphone in india may well find many takers!!!!
- Posted by GokulOf course there is always grey market in China and India. If they price it too high, Indian’s too will adopt grey market route, which they are very fond of
- Posted by MaheshWhen I got the message from vodafone, I was shocked how this is possible. An year old phone, which sold for $199 in other country is to be sold at cost of $850.
- Posted by kamalI was fully prepared to this one, but now I am not going to get this.
Sorry Apple, your price is very much high, why????????
people, don’t get too exited about the high price!
let’s not forget that the US$ 199 price comes after a heavy (60% subsidy) from AT&T. but this is countered by their outrageous voice+data plan which comes to ~$75 a month.
& you simply cannot opt out of this data plan. you realize that US users aren’t really paying less, they’re just paying more in the long run. then the 31K doesn’t seem as bitter.
having said that, 31K is still a ridiculous figure for a phone.
no doubt there will be people who will still buy it - i remember, people even lapped up a stupid phone like the RAZR when it was launched for similarly amounts!! what more can i say?
& how many people enjoy mobile web browsing?
hell, lot of people don;t even have access to true broadband! mobile web is many years away. how many public wi-fi hotspots do we have in india? how many people actually use them? by the time all these are established 3G is going to be history! believe it or not, 3.5G & 4G are closer than you think!
finally, the iphone seriously lacks all the features that users in India are used to. the iphone is just too americanized for india.
- Posted by ajaythey don’t realize that the indian market has a different set of needs & unless they cater to it, the iphone will not do well.
if the iphone flops in india, i hope that the company learns the lesson that everything american is not good (enough) for india!
Dissapointing. Will buy a Moto or Sony Erricson now
- Posted by will_buy_motto_nowiPhone is too highly priced. Beyond features it should be understood that iphone was never so expensive and hence was able to capture the market worldwide “Volume business”. As far as the contractual obligation in US with AT&T goes, please note that the phone from Vodafone or Airtel would be locked and you still need to buy a connection from them to use it. So look they are still earning after selling the phone for a mammoth amount !!!
Though I was waiting eagerly for iPhone looking at the price I would not opt for it, atleast for sometime now. Let us see if Vodafone and Airtel can sell these phones beyond few thousands :).
- Posted by Mohannow I am happy.. I got my 2G 8GB iPhone 3 months back for 26k… now running 2.0.1 version.. its works well… have all the apps and hacks I needs..
sad for the indian market..
- Posted by Sujahatits stupid to buy at this price at is avaiblable at just 8500 in usa why the cost is to much high wait till jan it will be cheaper
- Posted by shaleen