According to latest reports, the iPhone will be launched at an approx price of INR 20,000/- which according to me, is not at all expensive.
The iPhone is launching at $199 in the US, but people tend to forget it comes with a 2 year contract, which means you commit to pay a fix monthly sum. Ofcourse you get credits worth that much, but what if you dont utilise your minutes, its not worth it.
As far as I understand, AT&T have hiked their data plans, and wouldnt be less than $50 per month, so a 2 year contract would costs $199 (Iphone) + ($50 X 24) = $1399 (INR 58,758)
In Australia, telstra is launching the iPhone at $279 AUD for the 8GB model, and $399 for the 16GB model, but you would have to go on a $30 monthly plan, which works out total to around $999 AUD(INR 35,964) for the 8GB model.
If you do not wish to pay anything for the iPhone, you can do so on a $80AUD monthly plan, which works out to $1920 AUD(INR 69,120). I’m wondering who would really go in for this option?
So, all said and done, folks in India should not think that INR 20,000 is expensive.
July 3rd, 2008 at 12:33 pm
Indian call rates are considered to be the cheapest across the whole world. Also, being subsidized, this is the only way these companies turn profits. That is the only reason why analysts here believe that the iPhone will cost more than or around 21k. To be honest, I find that Vodafone & AirTel both coming out with the iPhone there will certainly be some competitive marketing that will in turn benefit us – the customer.
July 4th, 2008 at 6:04 am
Something tells me that it will NOT retail for 20K INR – guess time will tell!
July 7th, 2008 at 12:51 pm
20k is really decent than my windows mobile of 23k
July 7th, 2008 at 6:43 pm
INR 20,000 sounds quite reasonable…
July 7th, 2008 at 8:25 pm
@Manan – Totally true. The tariff here are the cheapest. I remember when I was in Australia – A local call per minute and a call to India would costs me the same from my cell phone.
@Dev – Aise mat bol – You’re getting for free. Let us get it for INR 20K
@Narendra – Yep. INR 20k is absolutely great. Most high end cell phones are more expensive.
@Ankur – Yeah dude, just waiting for Vodafone to launch the iPhone
August 15th, 2008 at 2:22 am
Dude.. do some research before you throw in some dumbfuck numbers.. monthly plans start from 70$ in the US..
August 15th, 2008 at 9:43 am
@A_kr – The post said the plan wouldnt be less than $50 in the US. I didnt give out any exact numbers.