Apple plans iTunes India, up to 400,000 iPhone 3G sales?

Thu, 08/28/2008 - 3:48am — Jonny Evans

We're not completely convinced, but local reports claim Apple's preparing to open up its iTunes Store in India - and suggest the company may have booked initial sales of up to 400,000 iPhone 3Gs...

The report could be based on crossed messages - Apple's iPhone 3G launched in India last week, so in support of the new device a new iTunes Store for India has already been opened up - but this only offers iPhone applications at this time.

Indian newspaper the Business Standard expects the company to extend what's on offer through the store, introducing music downloads, podcasts, and eventually film and TV shows. Apple sources dismissed the notion as "rumour and speculation", the report points out.

The iPhone 3G also seems off to a strong start in India, the report indicates, informing that 400,000 people registered for the device with Apple's two carrier partners in India, Bharti Airtel and Vodafone-Essar.

“We have received applications from 200,000 prospective customers who have registered through SMS and on our website. We have begun issuing the handsets through 400 Airtel outlets and 19 Apple resellers across 65 locations in India,” Bharti Airtel's CEO (Maharashtra & Goa), Manu Talwar, said.

While initial interest is very high, the newspaper notes that this is likely to wane after the rush, because the iPhone 3G costs much more in India than it does in most other countries - 31,000 Rupees (£386, $708) for the 8GB version, and 36,000 Rupees (£448, $823) for the 16GB model of iPhone. These prices are the unit prices, with carrier subscriptions extra.

( Filed Under:

Industry Intelligence

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Comments

400,000 sales? Naah...

Thu, 08/28/2008 - 6:48am — iMacUser (not verified)

400,000 is the number of users who registered with the 2 carriers much before the official price was announced. This was done via SMS & website without putting down any money.

As soon as the official price came out most of the people balked at the ridiculous pricing.

$700-$800 for a locked phone? No way. Also, there is no 3g in India and the GPS is service is patchy at best. You can easily find the 2G iphone for ~$500 in the gray market which is of course unlocked.

definitely possible

Thu, 08/28/2008 - 9:44am — 9to5Mac Noob (not verified)

but that is not waht it is about. Middle Eastern people as a culture are much more flashy with their possessions and would jump at the chance to look any richer than they are now. its just how it is. The exclusivity of the iphone would up their ego atleast 10 points

India is not in the middle

Fri, 08/29/2008 - 5:15am — 9to5Mac Noob (not verified)

India is not in the middle east you moron. You don't know sh** and want to comment about other cultures.

i think the iPhone 3G's sold

Thu, 08/28/2008 - 1:18pm — Anonymous Cowherd (not verified)

i think the iPhone 3G's sold only a few hundred units in India so far, or so the reports say.

I'll go pick mine up this weekend or in the next one, but @ Rs. 36,100 (or about $900); it's rather heftily priced - and even with that price, the phones are still locked onto the carrier. And there's no 3G network.

On the other hand, my monthly billings with unlimited EDGE data transfer average $15 or so, so I guess we make up for it in lower call/data rates :-/

Blogs

Fri, 08/29/2008 - 10:59pm — Rajesh Gupta (not verified)

Hi all

There is a myth in the market place on low pricing of the product (reference price point being Rs. 8000 or Rs.12000/- which refers to AT&T pricing of USD 199

or USD 299).

The reports don’t factor the commitment which a customers needs to give for a particular Price Plan for a period of 24 Months in the case of AT&T. For O2 the

commitment is for 18 months with selected plans.

But, if we calculate other cost like montly rental for voice, i.e., 69.99 (USD), the total cost of ownership for the period of 24 months for a 8 GB model

comes around Rs.81000/-! The total cost of ownership for O2 is around Rs.200000/- over a period of 18 months.

In first look it looks high, but in long term, it is still cheaper in India. So, don't stop urself from buying this lovely gadget...

Rajesh

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