As reported by Business Standard Apple iPhone will be launched in India on August 22nd by Airtel and Vodaphone both.

But all of you who may be thinking that it will be priced close to Rs.10000 (8GB iPhone cost $199 in US) may be in for a surprise. I believe that the handset will be priced much higher.

iPhone is subsidized in US and other countries by operators because their call rates are much higher. They charge rates like 25 cents a minute. In India, the charge is 1.5 to 2 cents a minute. They also earn via their expensive data plans on their 3G networks. It is assumed that the current price of $199 is the subsidized price with operators taking a hit of ~$300.

From AT&T page, the cheapest plan for iPhone users is at $69.99 pm (about Rs. 3000 pm). This is how they offset their initial hit of $300. I doubt any one in India will be willing to pay that price per month for mobile usage.

In India, call rates are one of the lowest in the world. So Vodafone and Airtel won’t be able to subsidize the price based on the call rates. 3G in India in AT LEAST a year away. GPRS is so pathetically slow, it is a real pain to browse internet using GPRS, so most of the customers won’t go for it either. I see no way, in which Airtel and Vodafone will be able to subsidize iPhone in India just based on call and data plans.

Infact, from the following At&T page (Link) “In the future, AT&T may offer a no-commitment option of $599 for 8GB and $699 for 16GB.”

That’s nearly equal to Rs. 25000.

So I assume that the price of iPhone in India will be close to :
Rs 24999 : With no commitment or contract for both prepaid and postpaid users.
Rs 19999 : With Rs. 499 per month commitment for 1 year for post paid users.
Rs 14999 : With Rs. 499 per month commitment for 2 years for post paid users. (may be only for long time users with good billing history).

One last question:
Can I get a $199 iPhone from US and get it unlocked and use in India ?

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