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 attract 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 proficient 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 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 massive 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 the 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 made 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 that’s the price for now 🙁