iPhone finally reaches Indian market

New Delhi: The Apple iPhone 3G is finally in India. The phone was released at the midnight and while many were sleeping, lots of Indians have already grabbed one.

All eyes are on this gadget. While, the apple iPhone for the 8gb version is priced at Rs 31,000, the 16gb version costs Rs 36,000 rupees. It might sound a little overpriced but analysts think otherwise.

“In India the product doesn't come with contract whereas in the US the product comes with contract where the phone is first subsidised and over the contract period the money is recovered from the user. Companies here usually don't encourage hand in subsidy,” says Deputy Director,Telecom Practice,Frost & Sullivan ,South Asia & Middle East. Girish Trivedi.

And, with the booking running into thousands the dealers see no reason to complain on the price tag.

“The response is good. Pretty much in line with our expectation and kind of beyond our expectation,” says Director, Marketing and New Business,

Vodafone Essar Harit Nagpal.

The apple iPhone has been launched at a time when other such high end products are already competing in the market, the most recent one being the Nokia N96 and so comparisons are bound to happen.

“The launch by some of our competitors of converged devices is actually a reflection of that they see the market as we saw 2003 onwards. We also strongly believe that this market also not about one product one technology because different consumer segments have very different requirements,” says Director Marketing Nokia India Devinder Kishore.

When the Apple iPod came in the market the consumer did not shy away from shelling a few extra bucks even though cheaper options were available in the market. So, now the iPhone has been put to the test to see if India is ready to bite the bait or not.

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#Apple iPhone 3G #Nokia #iPhone 8G