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iPhone 5 to launch in India on Oct. 26 - report

post #1 of 19
10/9/12 at 1:25pm
Thread Starter 
One of the next major markets for Apple to launch the iPhone 5 is India, and a new report claims the latest iPhone will debut there on Oct. 26.

The date was published on Tuesday by BGR India, citing "multiple sources." Oct. 26 would be the last Friday of the month, and Apple usually debuts a new iPhone model on Fridays.

In addition, the iPhone 5 is also expected to have wider availability at launch than previous iPhone debuts in India. The iPhone 5 will also apparently be distributed by Apple directly, rather than through the company's carrier partners.

iPhone 5


The iPhone 5 marks the quickest ever launch for an Apple product, becoming available in a total of 31 countries just two weeks after its release. Apple has said it will be available in more than 100 countries with 240 carriers by December, but declined to offer more specifics, particularly on major markets such as India and China.

The iPhone 5 is already available in Hong Kong where demand has been strong. One report this week claimed that mainland China is set to receive the iPhone 5 by December, and carrier China Unicom is said to already be clearing space in its inventory for Apple's latest handset.
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post #2 of 19
10/9/12 at 2:08pm

The more, the merrier; but my understanding is that the iPhone has never been much of a block buster in India.

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post #3 of 19
10/9/12 at 2:36pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by isaidso View Post

The more, the merrier; but my understanding is that the iPhone has never been much of a block buster in India.

Yes, but that's because it's ridiculously overpriced there, with carriers charging something like $600 for the handset with a contract. (And, lack of 3G outside of the large metros, which Samsung is able to capitalize on with their lower-end phones). People would buy unlocked phones in NYC to take back to India to use.

 

Since Apple is now planning to distribute it directly, and I hope at the price for an unlocked iPhone that you can get in countries such as the US, I predict it will fly off the shelves. Apple is a huge status symbol in India.

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post #4 of 19
10/9/12 at 2:47pm
Why launch somewhere else when ppl have to wait a month in markets it allegedly launched ? Create even more backorders ? Ppl in my local Apple retailer laugh at me when i ask them of availability
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post #5 of 19
10/9/12 at 3:24pm
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Originally Posted by anantksundaram View Post

Yes, but that's because it's ridiculously overpriced there, with carriers charging something like $600 for the handset with a contract. (And, lack of 3G outside of the large metros, which Samsung is able to capitalize on with their lower-end phones). People would buy unlocked phones in NYC to take back to India to use.

 

Since Apple is now planning to distribute it directly, and I hope at the price for an unlocked iPhone that you can get in countries such as the US, I predict it will fly off the shelves. Apple is a huge status symbol in India.

 

You should never underestimate the number of wealthy people in India who can easily afford iPhones, in a sea of over a billion there are tens of millions of them.

"The cobbler's children have no shoes", is a saying that applies a lot to companies who provide products and services. -KDarling on Google Search.

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"The cobbler's children have no shoes", is a saying that applies a lot to companies who provide products and services. -KDarling on Google Search.

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post #6 of 19
10/9/12 at 4:18pm
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Originally Posted by hill60 View Post

 

You should never underestimate the number of wealthy people in India who can easily afford iPhones, in a sea of over a billion there are tens of millions of them.

Yeah, that's sort of what I was meaning. It hasn't really been a "huge" hit, given the potential market.

Here's hoping the iP5 changes that.

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post #7 of 19
10/10/12 at 1:47am
Quote:
Originally Posted by anantksundaram View Post

Yes, but that's because it's ridiculously overpriced there, with carriers charging something like $600 for the handset with a contract. (And, lack of 3G outside of the large metros, which Samsung is able to capitalize on with their lower-end phones). People would buy unlocked phones in NYC to take back to India to use.

 

Since Apple is now planning to distribute it directly, and I hope at the price for an unlocked iPhone that you can get in countries such as the US, I predict it will fly off the shelves. Apple is a huge status symbol in India.

The reason for being overpriced has nothing to do with Apple, but 30% tax added by Indian government on goods that are defined as luxury.  The price may decrease a little, but not a lot. The iPhone 5 black market is very strong with people paying 1.5-2 times the price, just to get their hands on the latest iPhone. As for 3G service, it depends on the area, since I went to Udaipur for a meeting and obtained excellent service, but was in Delhi (capital city) and it was lousy. 

Unless this is new, no one in India will usually take a  contract option and 99% of people will buy the unlocked phone and choose their own provider and plan.

 

I expect the following pricing (just my opinion):

16Gb: USD 770

32Gb: USD$900

64Gb:USD$1100

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post #8 of 19
10/10/12 at 11:58am
Quote:
Originally Posted by souliisoul View Post

The reason for being overpriced has nothing to do with Apple, but 30% tax added by Indian government on goods that are defined as luxury.  The price may decrease a little, but not a lot. The iPhone 5 black market is very strong with people paying 1.5-2 times the price, just to get their hands on the latest iPhone. As for 3G service, it depends on the area, since I went to Udaipur for a meeting and obtained excellent service, but was in Delhi (capital city) and it was lousy. 

Unless this is new, no one in India will usually take a  contract option and 99% of people will buy the unlocked phone and choose their own provider and plan.

 

I expect the following pricing (just my opinion):

16Gb: USD 770

32Gb: USD$900

64Gb:USD$1100


30% tax is wrong, it is just 5%.

 

The main reason for the high cost is the multiple distribution layers that apple has to go thru to get their products to the end users i.e. distributors, transporters, retail etc.. Apple cannot as of now sell directly to the customers as it is not an Indian company and to be able to do that 30% of the products sold should be sourced from Indian suppliers. I did read that Apple is in some kind of discussion with the Indian Government where in they might request the software outsourcing in lieu of the  30% products sourcing from Indian suppliers, and they were rumors that the Indian government might relax these rules for single brand retail outlets.

 

I really don't know how People buying the iPhone 5 in India in the black market at insane prices will be able to use the handsets, as none of the Mobile operators in India are issuing nano Sims and according to the info I could gather the nano Sims are not compatible with the older Sims, so even if you can manage to cut the older Sims to the size of the nano Sim one cannot use it, as the connectors on the nano Sim are totally different to the older Sims and the nano Sim is thinner too, so how are people going to insert the older Sims into the iPhone 5.


After picking up the ipad2 and the 4S I am looking forward to the new iPod touch, hopefully they will launch it at the same time as the iPhone

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post #9 of 19
10/10/12 at 12:04pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by anantksundaram View Post

Yes, but that's because it's ridiculously overpriced there, with carriers charging something like $600 for the handset with a contract. (And, lack of 3G outside of the large metros, which Samsung is able to capitalize on with their lower-end phones). People would buy unlocked phones in NYC to take back to India to use.

 

Since Apple is now planning to distribute it directly, and I hope at the price for an unlocked iPhone that you can get in countries such as the US, I predict it will fly off the shelves. Apple is a huge status symbol in India.

 

The iPhones bought in India are not locked as handsets are not subsidized the user can choose any tariff plan other than the ones prescribed by the carrier. And the warranty on the iPhone can be claimed only in the country from where it has been bought. If some one buys a iPhone in US he cannot claim warranty in India as iPhones don't carry international warranty.

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post #10 of 19
10/10/12 at 12:08pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by isaidso View Post

The more, the merrier; but my understanding is that the iPhone has never been much of a block buster in India.


The main reason being no carrier deals for subsidizing the handsets, but you can find lot of people using handsets got from US which are locked and they jail break it to use it here. and for some reason there are a bunch of people paying quite a sum to buy a locked handset, awareness about locked and unlocked handsets is at best minimal as none of the carriers here in India follow that route like in other countries.

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post #11 of 19
10/10/12 at 5:12pm
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Originally Posted by freelander51 View Post

Why launch somewhere else when ppl have to wait a month in markets it allegedly launched ? Create even more backorders ? Ppl in my local Apple retailer laugh at me when i ask them of availability

Same here in The Netherlands. The release schedule is quite a joke: the telco's here only got the 16GB model. Not on launch day, nee, the 28th was merely a pre order date. Slowly the telco's are getting the phones in, and some even get the 32 and 64GB models. But the Apple Store (.nl) still shows 3-4 weeks. My expected delivery date is Oct 25-31. Same with the other 21 countries that were supposed to get it 'released' on the 28th of Sep.

I'd really wish for Apple to first have the manufacturers create more models, CDMA/GSM, white/black, 16/32/64GB, stock em high, ship 'em when needed and create a truly global launch date instead of this 'the new iPhone is so much in demand Apple simply cannot keep up' weather it's intended or not kinda marketing.

Next year I'm going to either get the new iPad or iPhone in the States on launch day by standing in line myself or just skip the first 2 months of hype and order online after production has created my favorite Apple Store line: 'Next business day shipping available'
Look what the cat dragged in: Mavericks!
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Look what the cat dragged in: Mavericks!
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post #12 of 19
10/12/12 at 9:27am
Quote:
Originally Posted by Nishanth View Post


30% tax is wrong, it is just 5%.

The main reason for the high cost is the multiple distribution layers that apple has to go thru to get their products to the end users i.e. distributors, transporters, retail etc.. Apple cannot as of now sell directly to the customers as it is not an Indian company and to be able to do that 30% of the products sold should be sourced from Indian suppliers. I did read that Apple is in some kind of discussion with the Indian Government where in they might request the software outsourcing in lieu of the  30% products sourcing from Indian suppliers, and they were rumors that the Indian government might relax these rules for single brand retail outlets.

I really don't know how People buying the iPhone 5 in India in the black market at insane prices will be able to use the handsets, as none of the Mobile operators in India are issuing nano Sims and according to the info I could gather the nano Sims are not compatible with the older Sims, so even if you can manage to cut the older Sims to the size of the nano Sim one cannot use it, as the connectors on the nano Sim are totally different to the older Sims and the nano Sim is thinner too, so how are people going to insert the older Sims into the iPhone 5.


After picking up the ipad2 and the 4S I am looking forward to the new iPod touch, hopefully they will launch it at the same time as the iPhone

Import duty is 30% , that is tax, everyone calls it the luxury tax, so no I am not wrong..
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post #13 of 19
10/13/12 at 9:32am
Quote:
Originally Posted by souliisoul View Post


Import duty is 30% , that is tax, everyone calls it the luxury tax, so no I am not wrong..

 

If so can you please kindly explain why the iPad pricing in India is comparable to the pricing in US.

 

In US the the ipad wifi + cellular is priced at $849 in the apple store which I believe is before tax and in cromaretail it is Rs. 50900 inclusive of all taxes. the exchange rate when the new ipad launched was over 55 rupees ($849= Rs.46695) for the dollar and today it is around 52 ($849= Rs. 44148) , 30 percent just doesn't cut it.

 

As far as I know, there is no luxury tax on electronics items in India, but it is levied on the hospitality industry like hotels, resorts etc. Can you point me to some Indian government website which says otherwise, which will be very helpful in understanding the reasons for the high prices of the iPhone but not the iPad in India.

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post #14 of 19
10/14/12 at 3:20pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Nishanth View Post

 

If so can you please kindly explain why the iPad pricing in India is comparable to the pricing in US.

 

In US the the ipad wifi + cellular is priced at $849 in the apple store which I believe is before tax and in cromaretail it is Rs. 50900 inclusive of all taxes. the exchange rate when the new ipad launched was over 55 rupees ($849= Rs.46695) for the dollar and today it is around 52 ($849= Rs. 44148) , 30 percent just doesn't cut it.

 

As far as I know, there is no luxury tax on electronics items in India, but it is levied on the hospitality industry like hotels, resorts etc. Can you point me to some Indian government website which says otherwise, which will be very helpful in understanding the reasons for the high prices of the iPhone but not the iPad in India.

I will check your prices, since the Managing Director of Croma Retail (used to be joint venture between WoolWorths Australia (not same as WoolWorths USA/UK) and Tata,I know him well. Just want to point out that you are talking about 64Gb iPad Wifi + Celluar right?

 

Try this site: http://www.labnol.org/india/custom-import-duties/19306/  apologies, did not know that iPad is treated as computer, so only 15% tax (which what the price difference is), but your statement about electronics do not get taxed is fairyland dreams. So your comments about high price due to distributors, retails etc, is wrong, which I knew, since I sourced my Thunderbolt Display directly from Apple, since their have representatives in certain Croma stores.

 

No luxury tax in India, you never bought a Mont Blanc pen or LVH bag for your wife in India..lol  Btw there is no 30% at hotels/resorts, at most 12.3-15% tax and 20% tax on wines/spirits.

 

What will be interesting is what the iPhone 5 will be priced, since from my link, the import duty is roughly 1% for mobiles, but iPhone is also IPod and that is 28%, I wonder what tax bracket their use...


Edited by souliisoul - 10/14/12 at 3:54pm
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post #15 of 19
10/14/12 at 10:55pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by souliisoul View Post

I will check your prices, since the Managing Director of Croma Retail (used to be joint venture between WoolWorths Australia (not same as WoolWorths USA/UK) and Tata,I know him well. Just want to point out that you are talking about 64Gb iPad Wifi + Celluar right?

 

Try this site: http://www.labnol.org/india/custom-import-duties/19306/  apologies, did not know that iPad is treated as computer, so only 15% tax (which what the price difference is), but your statement about electronics do not get taxed is fairyland dreams. So your comments about high price due to distributors, retails etc, is wrong, which I knew, since I sourced my Thunderbolt Display directly from Apple, since their have representatives in certain Croma stores.

 

No luxury tax in India, you never bought a Mont Blanc pen or LVH bag for your wife in India..lol  Btw there is no 30% at hotels/resorts, at most 12.3-15% tax and 20% tax on wines/spirits.

 

What will be interesting is what the iPhone 5 will be priced, since from my link, the import duty is roughly 1% for mobiles, but iPhone is also IPod and that is 28%, I wonder what tax bracket their use...


lol.. why do you want to trouble the MD of croma retail for this, if you know him so well catch up for a beer, am sure that will be more fun and relaxing too, or just go to cromaretail.com for the 64GB ipad price, must be still the same.

 

labnol is a indian government site, did not know that and the article is from jan 2011!!, well maybe the rates haven't changed even after 2 years.

 

I did not say that there are no luxury tax or no tax on electronic items in india, I just said that it is 5 percent for iphone at least from the bill I got from croma retail. And the reason of distribution was just given as one probable reason.there might be others too, Did not know that you had to be right all the time?

 

Seriously I did not want to know what you buy your wife, I am sure she is happy with you taking such good care of her!!!

 

well iPhone is iPod but iPod is not an iPhone, so maybe the different tax brackets.

 

Anyways I was just trying to get some info and definitely not interested in trying to prove you wrong. You can be right lol..

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post #16 of 19
10/15/12 at 5:38pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Nishanth View Post


lol.. why do you want to trouble the MD of croma retail for this, if you know him so well catch up for a beer, am sure that will be more fun and relaxing too, or just go to cromaretail.com for the 64GB ipad price, must be still the same.

labnol is a indian government site, did not know that and the article is from jan 2011!!, well maybe the rates haven't changed even after 2 years.

I did not say that there are no luxury tax or no tax on electronic items in india, I just said that it is 5 percent for iphone at least from the bill I got from croma retail. And the reason of distribution was just given as one probable reason.there might be others too, Did not know that you had to be right all the time?

Seriously I did not want to know what you buy your wife, I am sure she is happy with you taking such good care of her!!!

well iPhone is iPod but iPod is not an iPhone, so maybe the different tax brackets.

Anyways I was just trying to get some info and definitely not interested in trying to prove you wrong. You can be right lol..

Seriously next time you provide comment stating ' You are wrong' ensure you actually know what you are writing about, since weak laugh (lol) and sacrastic humour is not relevant.

As for the my web link, If it is inaccurate show me, it is incoorrect data and do some research of your own!!!

Lastly you may want to read your comments at #13 and withdraw that contradicting comment, since you clearly stated there is no luxury tax on electronics in India. Trying to change your words by saying, I never said that there is no luxury tax or tax on electronics in India is amateur hour, since both of us know, I was refer to additional tax levied by Indian Government to import electronic goods.

Lastly, not trying to be right, jut trying to have a discussion in forum and not be too opinionated, but open minded to other people's comments.

Again, you using words ' I am wrong' was foolish and shows you thought you knew your topic, which is not the case!

No weak (lol) by me at end.
Edited by souliisoul - 10/15/12 at 5:52pm
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post #17 of 19
10/15/12 at 11:48pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by souliisoul View Post


Seriously next time you provide comment stating ' You are wrong' ensure you actually know what you are writing about, since weak laugh (lol) and sacrastic humour is not relevant.
As for the my web link, If it is inaccurate show me, it is incoorrect data and do some research of your own!!!
Lastly you may want to read your comments at #13 and withdraw that contradicting comment, since you clearly stated there is no luxury tax on electronics in India. Trying to change your words by saying, I never said that there is no luxury tax or tax on electronics in India is amateur hour, since both of us know, I was refer to additional tax levied by Indian Government to import electronic goods.
Lastly, not trying to be right, jut trying to have a discussion in forum and not be too opinionated, but open minded to other people's comments.
Again, you using words ' I am wrong' was foolish and shows you thought you knew your topic, which is not the case!
No weak (lol) by me at end.

 

Firstly I did say that Luxury tax is not applicable on Electronics items but on Hotels and the hospitality industry.

 

http://articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/2004-08-04/delhi/27159785_1_luxury-tax-luxuries-act-actual-tariff

 

Whatever link you shared itself showed that taxes on mobiles as 1.03% but maybe you thought iPod is at 26.849% so I guess you added up both to be right again, brilliant...ROFL

 

And no they don't call import duty as Luxury tax, but you do so that you can be right. another ROFL

 

But I must admit you certainly bring a lot of laughter with your comments to this forum..ROFL.

 

And you did make two statements as "Lastly" that deserves a LOL and ROFL..

 

Your statements definitely ROFL not LOL.. sorry about that... Sarcasm I think so..ROFL

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post #18 of 19
10/16/12 at 1:29pm

Please yell back and forth only about the content of the discussion at hand, not each other.

Tallest Skil & Relic
"…AI is a private forum…" "Well, in that case, it's naked time…"
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Tallest Skil & Relic
"…AI is a private forum…" "Well, in that case, it's naked time…"
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post #19 of 19
10/16/12 at 8:30pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Tallest Skil View Post

Please yell back and forth only about the content of the discussion at hand, not each other.

I think all my posts were directed at the discussion, except for last one.

Fair enough you can advise us how to behave, but ensure you keep that standard for entire forum, enough said!


Edited by souliisoul - 10/16/12 at 8:45pm
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