At this point after endless delays and multiple rants by many of us on the delay in launch / absence of the 3GS in India, I am wondering if it makes sense for Apple to spend time trying to sell a super smartphone in a nascent market like India. Yes we are the worlds fastest growing mobile market, but how many of us can afford a 30k phone? It remains a fact that Nokia, Samsung and other companies survive on low end phones or affordable media phones that attracts the youth.
There are some die hard Apple fans I know here (who would lineup at midnight to buy one), but Apple is a co that works for profits. The numbers that we have been hearing for the 3G isn’t great, nor does Apple has other cheaper cellphones which it can sell to balance the 3GS with. For example the HTC Hero or N97 both sell for over 30k in India, but these cos have good sales with low-end / medium range phones. So they see some ROI in pushing the phones in a bundle with the same distributor channel.
There are other markets that would do better and with stock crunch of 3GS Apple would certainly launch the phone in those economies first. Using the official channel they have just started to push the iPod’s with some advertisement this year, iPhone is something that doesn’t go with the huge youth base that we have. Lack of openness, bluetooth trf and affordable price point kills that segment for the iPhone. iPod touch still does better. Many of us are still using the iPhone 2G that came in at $399 which translates to Rs 16000 (ultimately sold for 21k in grey market).
Recent reports suggested that lack of subsidy also affected the 3GS sales in China badly. India can’t be an exception. At the end our only frustration is the SILENCE Apple maintains w.r.t the launch dates. APPLE for once make it clear – will you bring the 3G Speed to India or not? If it doesn’t make sense for you to launch the 3GS in India - at least TELL US!
If you want to buy the iPhone 3GS in India Now?
Your best option is to go for a piece from the grey market. It costs Rs 38000 for a 16GB model. Sadly thats the price for now 
iPhone / iPod touch downloads
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I am so tired of waiting for 3GS officially in India. I also bought an N86 in the mean time but i can wait no more. I think i will hit the grey market now. but since apple products always have some kind of repair problems, i am sure i will have problems. I live in ahd where there are two istores owned by reliance. they tell us they dont repair / service iphones!!! wtf! where the hell will i go if i need so repairs even if i can pay for it?? vodafones and airtel stores tell that they repair iphones (3g) only if bought from their stores. plus iphones dont have an international warranty so even if i buy it from abroad, ill be in trouble if something goes wrong with it. i have no reliable store for repairs to turn to. plus its selling here at 37k now (16gb) and 42k (32 gb), white is almost not available. wtf!!! its so complicated to buy a freaking iphone even if we can afford it!!!! i am so tired waiting for it. kindly advise wht should i do!! buy from the grey market at official price with no warranty … wht if it launches on the next day itself!! it happened with my macbook 13 inch. i bought a macbook aluminium 13 inch and in a week or so it was stopped and changed to macbook pro 13 inch aluminium!!!!! these apple guys so unreliable!! so back to iphone… help if any one can!! thanks fr reading… hehe!
I don’t see Apple 3Gs is value for money.
i Have been to iPhone Dealership in Pune & Apple Store opened by Reliance,. The guy at the store said that as it is iPhone 3GS they don’t deal with it and gave me a number to call. I just called iPhone Technical CARE. The IVR said for any technical support on iPhone contact your service provide or logon to aPpple Store. What the F? I have a iPhone 3GS, just incase if something goes wrong with my ‘iPhone 3GS, that means i dont get any support.
Im sick of waiting for this phone and have decided to buy the motorola droid instead
Guys trust me, no need to get an old phone that will be obsolete in 5 months anyway.
Go for droid u wont regret it
please buy a brand that considers india an important place to launch their latest products
what a nonsense article. Check apple’s marketing strategy before making stupid statements. N97, OMNIA, HTC hero, Storm..
are you referring to the silence they maintain?
HELP PLZZZZ
o
hey guys…
my bro is going to the us this weekend…
can u ask him to get an iphone from us..
the unlocking and stuff…
is it worth it…
nd yeah if not then can i get atleast the 3g model…
it should cost less than the one available in india..
please help…
!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Ankit Of ourse tell him to Buy a iPhone 3GS for u, why a iPhone 3G. It’s worth buying an iPhone. Look at me I bought iPhone 3GS for 47K on eBay, which will not be the Case with u. It will be very cheap to but it from US. Whichever Firmware version tell him to buy it for u. Rest leave it to this website it will teach u the magic how to jailbreak and unlock. Tell ur Bro to buy official unlocked iPhone if not even the locked ones are worth it. I don’t think I will like to use any other phone other than iPhone. It’s the coolest gadget. After u buy the iPhone let us know as well how it cost? If u need any help with jailbreaking & unlocking the iPhone drop a post we will repond. All the best buddy!
Ishfaq, you are an idiot. You cannot buy the 3GS phone legally cheap in the US. If you buy a locked iphone 3GS from AT&T or Apple, you must activate the phone with a two year contract. So yes, you will get the phone for $200 plus spend $80/month minimum for the contract including taxes. There is no cheaper plan offered. So, it is not cheaper. You guys in India have dirt cheap phone service. Stop whining about the cost. Buy the iphone from Vodafone/Airtel and with the service cost is no more than $25/month. Your total cost of ownership for the iphone over two years in India is minimum of $1000 while in the US the minimum TCO will be over $2100. There is a reason why Indian mobile industry only has revenues of $21.5 billion while US mobile industry is more than $200 billion. US cell phone market is one of three most expensive in the world. You Indians keep forgetting about the cost of the service which is where the money is..not the phone. And, if you want cheaper phones like the iphone, make your own technology instead of depending on American technology from companies like iphone. You guys want cheap technology but don’t spend the money or time to develop anything meaningful.
Oh..and unlocking the iPhone is a violation of US copyright law and maybe a violation of Indian copyright law. You guys in India need to understand that such actions are illegal and could land you in jail one day.
kappa “please buy a brand that considers india an important place to launch their latest products”
Try making your own brands instead of relying on the rest of the world. Don’t you have your own scientists and engineers in India?
“i Have been to iPhone Dealership in Pune & Apple Store opened by Reliance,. The guy at the store said that as it is iPhone 3GS they don’t deal with it and gave me a number to call. I just called iPhone Technical CARE. The IVR said for any technical support on iPhone contact your service provide or logon to aPpple Store. What the F? I have a iPhone 3GS, just incase if something goes wrong with my ‘iPhone 3GS, that means i dont get any support.”
Ishfaq..you are a complete moron. Apple has not officially sold the Apple 3GS phone in India so obviously why would they provide you with support. Apple pretty much has tied up with mobile operators to sell the phone with the service. You obviously obtained your phone through illegal means or did something illegal to the phone such as unlocking it or you knowingly bought it unlocked so stop whining about the lack of support from Apple in India.
DS Americans are goon bags, as I’m using a iPhone bought is US unlocked and jailbreaked it. I’m aware iPhone 3GS is not launched in India. Althe fact is that Americans are so used to getting fooled by their service providers that they think it’s the end of the world. U guys are used to getting phones for free on a contract. As u don’t have the NAG to but it by paying up front cost, u guys believe in taking everything in installment. U take a contract for 2yrs and pay heavy line rental. Pay thrice the price. Not in India though! Actually it’s not the people their it’s the goverment who takes the people for a ride and earn. So stop bullshitting I know what I’m talking about!
Just for ur records DS-I work for 3G UK i know how things work in US & UK–Hehehe.. i hope that rings the bell foru that ur commenting on a person who knows how things work in US & UK.
You guys want cheap technology but don’t spend the money or time to develop anything meaningful.
Answering ur comment DS: Do some fact finding, 37% of Mocrosoft (figures are of 2000) software developers are indian, Americans cannot walk a step without the help of an indian software developers.
ishfaq: all good replies from your end :wink:
As far as the contract and so called “free phone”, not sure you got that point though. I gave the iphone as an example, The TCO is very high. Any phone for that matter. We take the “free” or subsidized cost of the phone because if we did pay full price the monthly service fees won’t change and so the phone plus service will be even more expensive. ARPU for a company like Verizon is $50. ARPU for Airtel and Vodafone is less than 250 RS. And total subscriber fees..well..I gave you that number so it is clear that Indian cell service is much cheaper. I have no problems paying $800 for a cellphone if I can get the Indian cell phone service prices here in the USA.
Ishfaq: as far as you buying the iphone 3GS unlocked in the US, Apple’s legal position is that you have circumvented the DMCA (Copyright Act). The DMCA calls for civil and criminal penalties. Now, it is entirely a different matter whether Apple could actually win a legal case…I mention this because way too many Indians think the whole unlocking thing is no big deal. They should see the examples being made of music piraters under the DMCA.
ishfaq: The technology comment has some underlying history. Met this Indian dude in Australia and he told me he found GPS devices to be expensive in Australia. I asked him what he knew about NAVSTAR. Get this,..he thought it just existed in Australia….had no clue otherwise about origin.
I asked him how much money he contributed to its development. He was still dumbfounded. I told him the answer was zero and he should be lucky that all he has to pay for is the GPS receiver. The point…NAVSTAR is built, owned and operated by the US government and paid for by the American taxpayer. The US does not charge direct user fees for civilian use.
I guess it bewilders me how people outside the United States forget who develops and pays for much of the world’s technology GPS and Internet to name a few.
I suppose you will have a counter to that…look forward to it.
Just for ur records all the master mind behind the whole jailbreaking and unlocking are sitting in US, also Apple is fighting legal battles to make Jailbreaking illegal, they haven’t got the approval yet. Bottom line clean ur own house first before pointing fingers on others! I hope this answers it all!
Ishfaq: you are correct. Apple as of yet either has not seriously pursued its legal position or knows it will never be successful and maybe just making threats. I am sure they want to go after the “masterminds” in the US as badly as anywhere else but are in for a fight with the EEF. Nonetheless, I do sense that people in India think it is a game without understanding the possible legal problems that can occur.
And, I get that AT&T and Apple were both stupid when the first version of the iPhone came out as they did not understand that people would buy the phone and never follow through on activation of the service. It was an obvious loophole which tells you how stupid even the highest levels of corporate America can be.
Well, AT&T’s exclusivity ends soon but by then Google hopefully will have its own VOIP/data device out in the US market which will change everything here anyway.
http://www.darshanchande.com/2009/08/what-is-your-identity.html
DS: just think this way, that as a customer u have signed a contract so any which ways as a customer on contract will have to pay, so there is no point refusing the customer to unlock the handset. Like now in UK even if the customer gets a new contract he has the right to unlock his handset on day one when he signed up by just paying £14 to unlock handset. If u take a contract get it unlocked trouh hacktivaton and don’t pay for the contract. What will they do? Example if a person is not bothered about their credit scoring! So it’s a persons legal right to get the phones unlocked. Which Apple is scared of. About the calculation u gave about the turn over of US and Indian Telecom. To Answer that its just US government wants to extract every penny they cud out of public. Why their doing it, I’m sure u have the answer better than me! As i gave u an example Clean ur own house first before going after others. It fits with all aspect the way US government functioning! I hope OBAMA makes the difference for people of US and other countries!
2010 will be for android, except Nokia and Apple every other cellphone manufactuer will be with Android! Just a forecast for u DS
@ishfaq
yeah nice to hear that…cud u be more specific as in where and how..
Ankit! All of the Mobile phone manufacturer has signed agreement with google to launch their Touch screen phone with Android Platform. So mostly the New handset coming out in 2010 will be on Android. No specific time line given, but eventually it will happen. It’s only Nokia Na Apple who want to stick to their old fashion platform. Samsung HTC LG and so on will start with Android. Android OS is good. Good thing is it will be free Applications most of them unless the developer wants to charge for the apps. Developer will have to submit the Apps to Google and after their approval it will be Open for people to download. Reason why Nokia is not moving from it’s Windows based phone as it gets the Royalty from Windows.
Well Ankit I didn’t get ur question right if ur referring to my Replies on Android or the suggestion about iPhone! I already answered about Android but if ur question was about iPhone then if u have any living in the UK u can buy a iPhone 3G on Pay As you Go (Pre Paid) for £355 in UK with officially unlocked. Make sure that to tell the person to send u the PayG SIM card along with the Handset. My suggestion is iPhone 3G if u still wanna go for a 3GS it’s ur choice. I’m using a iPhone 3GS the only difference between a iPhone 3G and 3GS is, 3G 2mega pixel camera and 3GS 3.2mega pixel. Major difference the speed. Applications open much faster on 3GS than 3G but it is negletable. So choice is urs. Or u can buy a official unlocked iPhone in India from grey market. As grey market is now selling iPhone’s bought in Canada which are never locked to any network. What Im aware of it’s oy Italy and Canada who sell unlocked iPhone. Make ur choice!
I was waiting for the launch of apple iphone 3gs in India and last month ( tired of waiting ) i purchased nokia n 97 – o boy, … now i want to get rid of this. If you have used iphone, you cant use this so called most sophisticated n 97… I have purchased this N97 last month from a Nokia priority dealer for 30.5 k. I have full kit with bill and all those came with the set. I can sell the same now for 25k. Anyone interested please contact me ( prashanth ) – mobile: 09946 556202
Hey everyone
I also waited for the iPhone 3gs for a long time then when frustuated with the delay I used my sources in USA and found out gem the top officials of apple that they have no plans of launching the 3gs in India for the time being due to some prob with service providers in India so it’s no use waiting for it so finally I bought it frm the grey mkt
Pratik, you just broke our heart
iPhone 3G launch in India by Airtel and Vodafone was an EPIC failure.
The reason i can think of is, Airtel and Vodafone sold Carrier Locked iPhone for the Price of Official Unlock iPhone.
This math don’t do quite well with Indian Market. I would have wished Apple had directly launched Official Unlock iPhone through retail outlets like Apple Stores, instead of going through with Airtel and Vodafone.
Because of the above issue they (Apple) lost more than 80% of market they could have had in India.
I am hoping my best that Apple is waiting for their Contract with Airtel and Vodafone to get over with and come out with new strategy that suits well with Indian Market. Am keeping my fingers crossed on this one.
I only hope apple release Official Unlock iPhone this time in India.