I am not crazy about cellphones. So when I was asked to cover the midnight launch of the Apple iPhone 3G in India, it didn’t really seem worth sacrificing my sleep.
I walked half-heartedly to the Vodafone store in nearby Connaught Place, hoping to see frenzied youngsters jostling for vantage position outside its shutters. I had read horror stories of people abroad queuing up 60 hours ahead of schedule for a chance to buy the iPhone first.
There was jostling all right, but only among photographers and journalists. There was not a customer in sight.
Till midnight, the media was cloistered inside the store in New Delhi listening to a live band and staring aimlessly at the wall.
At a minute past, the action started. The first buyer was handed the iPhone. He grinned and posed interminably for photos and the news channels. Then the second, third and fourth customer appeared in quick succession.
All of them didn’t mind paying 31,000 rupees ($712) for a phone including some features that don’t even work in India, because the country doesn’t support 3G services yet.
I step outside for a breath of fresh air. A stray dog saunters past — flummoxed by the hubbub no doubt. There are no curious onlookers nearby. Is India really aware the iPhone is out today? Do the majority of its people really care about the high-tech smartphone?
Maybe the outlet launching the iPhone in a Gurgaon mall has done better. Or maybe Indians aren’t really impressed by a phone when inflation is above 12 percent.
Either way, I need to catch up on my lost sleep. Here’s wishing the Apple iPhone 3G better luck over the weekend.
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just read the article : http://www.independent.co.uk/news/scienc e/apple-misled-iphone-users-over-interne t-capability-909658.html
- Posted by kalyanGiven the cost of the phone and the huge number of features the phone doesnt have, i think people didnt turn up coz they were not interested in buying it. You get a fully loaded phone for less than half the price with full compatibility. Who then would want to go for the iPhone.
A lot of featuers like - no video recording, no bluetooth transfer, no zoom, no support for mp3 and many such things that are not available on the phone.
The new “tube” that nokia is planning to release will be a bigger hit than the iphone.
apple has to do something to cut the cost and also to add or remove some features if it is planning to capitalize any market share in india.
- Posted by NitinWhen guys can carry Rs 20-25K phone models in colleges in order as a status symbols than there will be lot out there ready to shell out 31k when they know there will be not many doing so.Hence enjoying the exclusivity and leadning the style statement. I personally tried the phone for a long time and then weighed other options and finally settling for a Blackberry. I think Apple will make lot of money from India.
- Posted by NasirYes of course as everyone sd the price really suckssssss………. Dear Apple Inc. , Let me tell you Indians are not fools………
- Posted by ShankarThe iPhone in India would have been worth a buy had the pricing been competitive. Paying Rs.8000 upfront and the rest in installments of about a Rs.1000 per month for 36 months yes everyone in India would have entertained the idea. As by the end of that timeframe 3G services may be ready in India. But for a gadget with below par Camera, fixed memory, poor support for media and photosharing its really not worth it. Who in India uses a advanced mobile for 3 years at a stretch? These gadgets dont even lost that long better buy a LCD TV and watch the advertisement soon it will be Rs.8000/- and your favourite Khans may pose with it to lure you to buy one.
- Posted by Shankar Raj.JThe earlier version of the i-Phone in the US did create a frenzy when it was introduced in the summer of 2007; after the frenzy died out, the public realised that both Apple and AT&T who monopolised the product actually fooled the public, and probably also the media. i-Phone was a great design, but it did not meet the expectations the Apple-AT&T due had promised; the price immediately plummeted, I think from USD 399.00 to around or USD 200.00. Still it was over prized for what it was.
Then come Summer 2008. i-Phone 3G. USD 399.00. But this time, the public is much more wary. Only the executives of Apple and AT&T are talking, but even the media is not listening. Hence neither is the public. But fliers keep coming and pile up with other junk mail.
There are other manufacturers who deliver the same features without so much light-show and hullo-bullo. Some actually work as the best alternative to a lap top.
I think that Indian consumer is wise to shun such an over priced gadget that has never lived up to the promises.
This is really a sign of the Consumer Century. Keep it up!
- Posted by Silliam Cakespearethe thing that the phone comes with a price equivalent to a laptops price is amazing, i find it to be difficult for Apple to promote their phone @ such a high end price. even though they have to be bought with contracts with Airtel / vodafone, my exp with Airtel is not so good…
- Posted by shekhariPhone 3G Launch–Damp Squib?
This is India and this is what both Airtel and Vodafone did not realize by choosing past midnight as its time for launch, both for media and for buyers. There were no long queues reported from any locations including Bangalore. According to reports emanating from resellers, only 10 percent of who registered are actually going to buy the phone and that is not a huge number.
Apple, Vodafone, and Airtel—all three saved crores by not advertising before the launch and followed in true spirit what has been written about in “Rise of PR and Fall of Advertising” by Al Ries, Laura Ries. Today morning however, I saw an advertisement by Airtel in Economic Times (not Times of India). That gives some indication of what the target audience the two service providers are eyeing.
Before the launch, I had shared my “expertise” and suggested to prospective buyers of Nokia phones to hold till iPhone is launched and had expected it to be priced at around 20 k. I was certain that this would engneer a price reduction to the tune of at least 5k by Nokia, Ericsson and others. I was wrong. The price is 31000 Rupees or around $750 for 8 gb and 36 Rupees or around $900 for a 16 gb one.
There is no good justification for the pricing except that there are no riders on users. Any post paid or prepaid users can switch to iPhone without being tied to a package. So there is no subsidy as such as AT&T provides in the US.
The question then is. How is Apple is going to justify this to non-Airtel and non-Vodafone users who cannot have an iPhone. The situation, however, can change whenever “number portability” comes in. So, I assume, Vodafone and Airtel must be lobbying hard for the portability thing to happen, so that more of their competitors’ users can switch for the sake of “iphone’.There are no reports anywhere suggesting that Apple might ocnsidre CDMA iPhone in the near future.So Reliance and Tata, better look for some other “touch” alternatives on the lines of what Verizon has done by offering. Check out at http://estore.vzwshop.com/dare/
There are no reports as of now of the new iPhone 3G being cracked in India, though there are tools available and there are unqualified software engineers in the markets like Gaffars and SP road to crack the iPhone.
The question remains—the phone is for whom?
It would be a wait and watch for most CIOs in India, some of whom have already experimented with Blackberry and are a satisfied lot with Edge giving reasonably good speed. Apple, Airtel, and Vodafone would have struggle to get enterprise users embrace iPhone, nothwithstanding what Apple has mentioned on their website http://www.apple.co.in/iphone/enterprise /
In US, it has become a mass market product due to aggressive pricing, but Blackberry users there are still holding ground and not impressed by enterprise functionalities what Apple claims to offer. Moreover, Apple’s knack of strangholding the customers through iTunes and App store might not go down too well with Indian users of iPhone.
Finally, senior management from Nokia, Motorola, and Ericsson can relax and enjoy sound sleep for the time being as there is no cause of any immediate worries of “mass migration to iPhone”, something which was feared.
http://sudeshprasad.blogspot.com/2008/08 /iphone-launch-damp-squib-this-is-india .html
- Posted by sudeshIphone is targeting the creaming layer of india with its exorbitant pricing. Do not go in for the hype. Price cutoff is not far away. If you can afford it…then go for it!
- Posted by Praveen KumarI have been waiting for iphone since its first launch in US. Was shocked after the iphone 3g pricing in India & decided not to get the phone till the price comes down well below 20k.
- Posted by sunilAT&T is planning to sell unlocked 8GB for $600 in USA, add $100 for import duty, sales cost etc in India,then gross comes to Rs 31000 @ 1 USD =43 INR.
So i think the pricing may not sharply come down, as happens with Nokia instruments.
- Posted by ABApple sells its iPhone at about $400 to AT&T in US. AT&T absorbs $200 out of it and gives it to the customers at $200 in exchange of a 2 year commitment. I agree, contracts are not possible in India - so a subsidy from Airtel/Vodafone may not be straight forward. Add another $100 for import duty, shipment, extra effort in training customer representatives etc on the part of Airtel/Vodafone. Airtel/Vodafone could easily sell the iPhone for no more than $500 (Rs. 20,000). Because Airtel/Vodafone are selling the iPhones locked, that’s where they should look for profits. Still… lets give them Rs. 1000/- profit or maybe a very greedy Rs. 2000/- as margin per iPhone. Shouldn’t the price see a ceiling at Rs. 22,000/- ? In the end, all I can feel or say to Airtel/Vodafone/Apple is “What the hell guys?”.
- Posted by amitBy keeping steeper price of I phone, they have made it a luxury things…they would have swapped the market by keeping the price at 12-15K but i don’t know the People at AIrtel and Vodafone has put any brain behind the costing.
Just wait guys for few months the price will crash like anything.
- Posted by DhirenderApple corportion today is sitting on USD 24 Billion in CASH RESERVES. how do you think they made that money? by charging a premium for an aspirational product which is useless in a country like india.
- Posted by santhoshThe sales in India will only add to the 24 billion cash reserves apple has!
36K for 16Gig thats ridiculous !
- Posted by raviIn US its 299$ with a 2yr contract. I think vodaphone
needs to absorb some cost here from apple and get into
contract mode as is the case in US/other countries.
You sell a unlocked phone for RS 36,000 then who the hell is gonna buy it.
I think its better to buy in US unlock it there and get it to India ! that would def. save amost half the money.
I am at last a relieved person. For the past one year I have been thinking of getting an iPhone. Not because of the features it offer, but particularly the ‘Apple halo’ i was under. When I came to know its gonna launch here, i was hugely excited. I hoped that with a price of 8k @ US, we should get it for around 15-16k here. Had the price been 20-22k, i would have been in a real spot whether to go for it or not. By putting the price at 31k, Apple has really made my job easy;- i aint going for it.
I can clearly see many ppl like me are not exactly disappointed - they are laughing at the stupidity of Apple. This is a major PR dampener for those guys in an economy, which is rising to new heights every year. I mean what exactly do they think of Indians - that they can shove a cheap music player cum phone with a cheaper camera, 3G capabilities that wont even work, serious glitches in the platform, other missing basic features for the price of a double premium, and we wont even notice, brainwashed by the all encompassing brand shine of Apple.
I am seriously frustrated. And it not that cant afford the iPhone. Its roughly half of my monthly salary, though. Still, when you get ‘kheer’ for a lower price, would you settle for ‘milk’??
I have preordered N96, and hope to get it next month. Long live Nokia.
- Posted by bappai still have to wait..i don’t think the GPS will be working here properly like many of its features.Above all the price is damn unrealistic.i think the new Sony Xperia will be sweeping off the Indian market soon which is suppose to hit the market on the next month.
- Posted by Shamshadpagal indian, 70% of population living on a $2 per day, who cares about a phone
- Posted by aliI thank you for giving me an opportunity to say about iphone. I think that this iphone willnot have that kind of famous as it is in other developed countries. Indian people willnot accept it due to it cost. it is four times costlier than other countries. why? people know this.
- Posted by Kautuk Jitendra ShahJohny, average entry level Indian professional/techie salary can be 2,50,000/- per annum. And, that of non-IT, it will anywhere close to 1,00,000/- So, spending 31K on a mobile is too much for average Indian. Even for high earning IT professionals, spending 50% to 100% of their monthly salary on a iPphone is too much to think of.
- Posted by RamHigh price is the reason why Airtel and Vodafone didn’t make the release a high profile event. Otherwise, with so much hype, if 3 or 4 people turn up for mid night purchase (forgot about long Q), it will be embrassing for those companies.