A few months ago when phone analysts started talking about a ‘cheap iPhone’, there was an indication that Apple would finally launch an affordable iPhone for price-sensitive markets in countries like China and India. Apple did launch a ‘cheaper’ phone on Tuesday night. But this cheaper phone, called iPhone 5C, is hardly affordable. The basic model of iPhone 5C, which has hardware similar to iPhone 5 but in a plastic body, will be available for $99 (on contract) in the US. However, in India, the device is expected to cost around Rs 40,000, reports Times of India.
The $99 is a subsidised price and is applicable only when a consumer buys the phone along with a two-year contract with a telecom operator. Almost all smartphones in the US and some other developed countries like the UK are sold on the contract basis. The device manufacturer, which in case of iPhone is Apple, and telecom operators enter into a partnership. The telecom operator pays the full price of the iPhone to Apple. It then sells that phone at a subsidised price but recoups the money through the services and data plans that a consumer has to take as part of the two-year contract.
The phones sold through contract system are locked and work only with the network of one particular telecom company. People who don’t want to buy the locked devices can pay the full price and buy unlocked versions. In case of iPhone 5C, the unlocked version of the device will cost $549 in the US. This price is also a better indication of its expected price in India when it is launched here in the coming months.
In India, iPhones have been usually priced 20 per cent higher than their unlocked price in the US. In case of iPhone 5C, this works out to around Rs 40,000 at the current dollar-rupee exchange rate. Another indication of iPhone 5C price in India is its price in China. Apple has revealed that in China the device will cost around $730.
Apple has lost share in the global smartphone market in the last few quarters due to the popularity of Android phones, which are affordable and come with appealing features like a large screen. Analysts had hoped that iPhone 5C would make the Apple phone more affordable. But, its price has taken them by surprise. ‘The international price seems to be on a higher side,’ said Manasi Yadav, principal research analyst with IDC.
-With New Age input
