Iphone 3G fails in India

[manishk123]

Iphone 3G was launched in India with much fanfare around 2 months ago. However both the official providers - Airtel and Vodaphone have managed to sell only 500 pieces totally!! This in a country of over a billion people!

The main reason for its failure is the bizarre pricing. At over US$900 its the most expensive anywhere in the world. To top it off, even after paying so much you are restricted to using 2 networks only.

Oh and did i mention India doesnt have 3G service yet, so I dont know why even those 500 people bought it in the first place :laugh2:

[Hawk]

Iphone 3G was launched in India with much fanfare around 2 months ago. However both the official providers - Airtel and Vodaphone have managed to sell only 500 pieces totally!! This in a country of over a billion people!

The main reason for its failure is the bizarre pricing. At over US$900 its the most expensive anywhere in the world. To top it off, even after paying so much you are restricted to using 2 networks only.

Oh and did i mention India doesnt have 3G service yet, so I dont know why even those 500 people bought it in the first place :laugh2:
The restriction to 2 networks is better than here in the US where we are restricted to just AT&T.
As far as not having a 3G network over there, believe it or not, if you have Edge, the iPhone is still plenty worth it. the first version release was Edge only and many, many users are still on those phones.

As far as the pricing point... $900 is very steep if the phone is locked to one carrier or another. I know that it's close to the price of an unlocked iphone in some of the European countries, which is actually even MORE than $900, but not by too much.
If you are interested in an iPhone, I first suggest that you verify what the available networks are (Edge or whatever) and denisty of Coverage. The I would investigate whether or not buying an iPhone off ebay and getting a new SIM chip for it would be cheaper. Since 3G is not available yet, and since the Version 1 iPhones are unlockable, that might be a better option for you.

[ravman]

$900 for a phone being sold in a 3rd world country. Clever thinking Apple. For most people in India, $900 is more than a years wages!!

[Saurabh]

India is not a 3rd world country, and yes 900 dollars is pretty extreme for the iphone anywhere.

[Londonrockz568]

India is not a 3rd world country, and yes 900 dollars is pretty extreme for the iphone anywhere.

Tell that to ebay lol.:gasp:

[jsntrenkler]

Tell that to ebay lol.:gasp:

Yikes, that was a good one. India is a huge country though, I have a hard time believing that they have only sold 500 phones.

A Quick google search reveals from IDC: 10,000 mobile phones sold in India every hour: IDC

Now I realize $900 is extreme for a phone, even in india I am sure that there are more than 500 people who want / able to afford this phone.

Something also of note, it appears that India sells all of their phones at full retail price. Evidentially people there refuse to be tied down to a contract.

[Londonrockz568]

The US needs to learn from them. Because i really do think that if i pay the money to buy a phone i should at least have the freedom to choose what carrier i want.

[twisted_mind]

@ravman, India a third world country? Hehe :) that's so 1990's! Anyways to the op the iPhone 3g may be expensive but you may be better off with one than the 1G one simply for warranty sake...... N how could I forget that sexy glossy back :)

[icecreamman2]

Its a little hard for me to beleive theyve only sold 500. also to whoever sayd they only have 2 carriers, almost every single country selling it has 2 or less

[twisted_mind]

yeah 500 seems way off the mark. I stay in Mumbai n had a load of ppl buying the 3G alongside me in an apple store during the launch week. Even now there's so many black 3G's around...... Surprisingly the 16gb white seems to be not so hot for the Indian masse.

[Quake97]

Some of you guys blame Apple for the pricing, but the local carrier has something to do with that too, so don't put it all on Apple.

Joe

[acosmichippo]

500 per carrier = 1000. Still low, but when you consider you can still get a v1 on ebay for hundreds of dollars less, i believe it.

[manishk123]

Yikes, that was a good one. India is a huge country though, I have a hard time believing that they have only sold 500 phones.

A Quick google search reveals from IDC: 10,000 mobile phones sold in India every hour: IDC

Now I realize $900 is extreme for a phone, even in india I am sure that there are more than 500 people who want / able to afford this phone.

Something also of note, it appears that India sells all of their phones at full retail price. Evidentially people there refuse to be tied down to a contract.

India is the 2nd largest market in the world for cell phones. That's the whole point i'm making here - inspite of that, the Iphone 3G has performed so poorly! I am talking about the official 3G version. The old 2G unlocked has sold in huge numbers here in the grey market for around $450. So that's one of the reasons people dont want to shell out double the price for the official version and then stay commited to one network.

The hottest selling phone in this segment in India currently is the Nokia E71 which at around $450 does everything the iphone does and a lot more, with the freedom to be on any network the customer wants. So how can the Iphone sell for almost double the price.

[acosmichippo]

same reason as with all of apple's other products.

[Londonrockz568]

Some of you guys blame Apple for the pricing, but the local carrier has something to do with that too, so don't put it all on Apple.

Joe

Not entirely true.

Apple was (and is the only manufacturer in history) to call the shots with major carriers.
Because of this, the 3G on AT&T wasnt as much as the V1. That whole subsidized price thing. Cheaper phone, Plan price went up, activation fee, first bill etc.

What im saying is many carriers use the same format...so it would be really hard for a carrier to sell the phone for a unreasonable price whether it be dirt cheap or very expensive...thus Apple still retains control of the price.