iPhone to be Launched in India This Year. To be Bundled with Vodafone.
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The story that has been floating around for a month now has finally been confirmed. Vodafone will launch the iPhone in India and other countries such as Australia, the Czech Republic, Egypt, Greece, Italy, Portugal, New Zealand, South Africa and Turkey (reports Business Standard)
The price of the iPhone has been unconfirmed. Earlier it had been reported that phone would cost anywhere between Rs. 27, 200 – Rs. 28, 000. That price makes it relatively unattractive when compared with the price that the grey market offers the phone at (around 20k for the 8GB). Incidentally the 3G iPhone (which is going to be launched in August) will probably be launched in India as well.
The Economic Times reports that Apple was in talks with both Bharti Airtel and Vodafone Essar for bringing iPhone into India. “However, Vodafone has larger number of subscribers in metros and ‘A’ circles who are more likely to use the luxury phone. These subscribers are high data users. So, Vodafone is ready with a pool of customers who can use this device,” said a telecom expert.
Talking about the price, Vodafone has said that it would be “competitive”. So one can expect the price to be at 16k (the current price for the base model in the US) + 5% for custom duties on Cell Phones + a minimal premium = Rs. 18, 000. That’s my guess. Reliance recently launched iStores carrying Apple products which are very competitively priced. The standard MacBook is about as expensive as one in the US. So keeping that in mind, I don’t think they would want to keep the iPhone at a price that is completely out of reach (such as the one speculated initially).
Also they are getting fantastic PR :) - I doubt they’d spend truckloads on advertising (which should make the price more competitive). Anyone who probably ever wanted an iPhone possibly knows about its launch already.
The move is also perfectly timed. With number portability around the corner, you can expect consumers to flock to Vodafone outlets and switch to Vodafone’s network just to use the iPhone (and be locked in by horrendous schemes). Vodafone’s customer care incidentally is quite crappy. The dog doesn’t fool me.
Incidentally HTC has just launched the ‘iPhone competitor’ which will be released in Asia by June. The 3G capable phone carries slightly smaller dimensions (102 x 51 x 11.33mm and 110g) than the iPhone (115 x 61 x 11.6mm and 135g) and also houses a smaller 2.8″ touch screen. While the screen is physically smaller, it carriers a higher resolution (640×480) compared to the iPhone (320×480). It does include a front-mounted camera for video conferencing, which has been a rumored feature of the next generation iPhone.
The HTC phone has the Opera Mini web browser to compete with Apple’s Safari. It is a Windows Mobile 6.1 device. No word on the price so far.
An official phone as opposed to a phone available in the grey market will give users the added benefit of being able to add third party applications to the iPhone. The applications on the standard phone were tailor made for the US market which is probably why some Indian users find the interface boring. With more third party applications the iPhone will become a lot more relevant for Indians. For example, for maps you may want to replace the Google Maps widget with something that’s more up to date and couple it with the already existing wi – fi spot chronicler.
Cerius Shah writes that he has “detected over 300 wifi spots in the Bombay suburbian area within a 13km range. While over 80% of these are protected, it would be interesting to explore the potential of creating a wifi-mesh.” While its an interesting idea, at this point of time a wi fi mesh for Mumbai seems far away. The 300 odd networks he has seen are probably individual wireless routers. So i doubt the possibility of creating a mesh exists at all. A mesh needs dual radios, A & G. one to recieve, one to send. And it needs equipment that is much more powerful (and also more bulky). Best case scenario would be for a company to create Wi Fi hotspots around the city at strategic locations and charge its patrons. Reliance has already started using WiMax which they are converting into Fixed Wireless for homes. They could easily exploit their WiMax capabilities to transport bandwidth to various locations and then convert that bandwidth at certain locations and then form wi fi hotspots till ofcourse they can create a full fledged mesh.
I think only a company like Bharati or Reliance can create a wireless mesh in city like Mumbai. That’s because the rent for putting up a Wi – Fi/ Wi – Max Tower is ridiculously expensive. You may have to pay a building in lakhs just to host the infrastructure. Buildings are demanding such astronomical sums because the price has been ‘fixed’ by the biggies such as Bharati and Reliance who offer such amounts for putting up cell phone towers. It thus becomes unsustainable for a Medium sized company to compete and create a mesh – the technological creation of which is not as complex as one thinks. A city like Mumbai also has a diverse topography, which make coverage an issue. Probably the best city for a Wi Fi Mesh would be a city like Chandigarh which has a stable topography and a population that is technologically keen along with prices of operation that are not as high as in some of the other cities.
I just remembered - the iPhone can be my birthday gift to me! And we need better mobile Internet options!
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@Harshil: A wifihotspot, if anything, is a bad idea. Besides users on company accounts, only a marginal lot pay the Rs 100 odd per hour premium to have internet connectivity when it costs half that monthly to have email access. Maybe in airports, but nowhere else. Bandra, for eg, has atleast three places where regulars pay for the coffee and get the wifi free. Secondly, out of the 300, not probably, all of them are private wifi routers. There is a way around it though, http://tinyurl.com/4ppn3w. Wimax, as you know, still has tons of teething troubles. You are partly wrong about indigenous apps, no matter how customized, they can beat the volume, depth and innovation of third party apps (both paid/adsupported)
@ Cerius: Indigenous apps would be born because of market forces. Indigenious apps would be made by 3rd party developers anyway.
Wi Fi hotspots at strategic locations run by a single company at prices that can compete with Telecom operators is a tried and tested model worldwide. So you can have 10, 000 routers all over the city at hotspots - the company could engage in tie ups and the like. The consumer wins. Good prices. Good Speeds. Good connectivity.
Wi Max does have a few problems but wi - max when converted to wi fi for end point consumption is a good option.
Please inform me about the details of iphone and its launching date n cost in India.
ithink it is better to buy it from US or ANY outside INDIA will be better as the prices are
($199) lower compare to be launch in india so guys just dont buy it from india please its my sugestion to all of u ok thk u buy think about it……….
Please inform me about the details of iphone and its launching date n cost in India.