Apple TV launches in India for Rs. 7,900

Posted:
in iPod + iTunes + AppleTV edited February 2015
Almost a year after the device launched in the U.S., Apple has brought its newest Apple TV to India, and the company is currently looking to develop partnerships to stream content directly to TVs through the device.

Apple TV India


ThinkDigit carried the news on Tuesday that the new Apple TV had appeared in Apple's Indian online store. An Apple India representative speaking with that publication stated that Apple is currently looking to partner with Indian content providers in order to bring content streaming services to its diminutive set-top box, bringing Indian customers access to services similar to Netflix and Hulu Plus.

Apple's streaming box retails for Rs. 7,900, or roughly $146. It competes with numerous other HD media players available on the Indian market, including Asus' O! Play Mini, Amkette's Flash TV HD, and the WD Live HD. ThinkDigit notes, though, that the media player segment has yet to achieve critical mass in the Indian market, so Apple may be able to have a big impact.

Apple has, over the last three months, seen sales shoot up 400 percent in India following an extensive advertising and marketing campaign. That aggressive approach to the Indian market came after years of Apple largely ignoring India, where smartphone penetration is thought to be less than 10 percent.

Apple launched its iTunes Music Store in the world's second most populous country this past December. The iTunes Store launched with local artists, such as AR Rahman, as well as U.S acts.
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Comments

  • Reply 1 of 41
    Truly becoming a global company. With iTunes added to so many countries, slowly expanding the offerings (books, movies, TV, App Store etc) the Apple name will become known to every living person on the planet.

    Take a look at the [URL=https://itunes.apple.com/in/movie/hate-story/id591271928]movies section[/URL] on the Store, funny editing they do. Perhaps [B]digitalclips[/B] likes to see that.

    [VIDEO][IMG ALT=""]http://forums.appleinsider.com/content/type/61/id/20824/width/500/height/1000[/IMG][/VIDEO]
  • Reply 2 of 41
    Pretty smart
  • Reply 3 of 41
    mac_128mac_128 Posts: 3,454member
    Apple should stop going after market share with this. The Apple TV is already a cheap peice of plastic unbecoming of Apple's quality standards. Why don't they improve the quality standards, profit margins, market strictly to the wealthy, and stop competing with Roku and the other cheap market-share seeking manufacturers? Why does Apple need market share? They have superiority, niche marketing and inflated margins. Who needs anything else?

    [COLOR=red][B][SIZE=4]/s[/SIZE][/B][/COLOR]

    EDIT, BY TALLEST SKIL: Edited for visibility. Even I missed it the first time. :lol:
  • Reply 4 of 41


    The AppleTV is a great device and it's secret is in AirPlay. If you have an iPhone or iPad, this is an amazing ability to stream ANYTHING to your TV near instantly. It's a quality unit and works great (as long as you have an Internet connection that can support HD streaming of course)

  • Reply 5 of 41

    Quote:

    Originally Posted by Mac_128 View Post



    Apple should stop going after market share with this. The Apple TV is already a cheap peice of plastic unbecoming of Apple's quality standards. Why don't they improve the quality standards, profit margins, market strictly to the wealthy, and stop competing with Roku and the other cheap market-share seeking manufacturers? Why does Apple need market share? They have superiority, niche marketing and inflated margins. Who needs anything else? /s


    No offense, but what the hell are you talking about? Apple TV is of no lesser quality than Roku or any other streaming box. It's 'cheap' because they choose to not charge much for it. And it has nothing to do with marketshare. If they wanted marketshare they'd give it away fro free with every Mac and iPad purchase (something that I think they actually should do, but not for marketshare, more so to build further engagement and push the beauty of AirPlay). 


     


    You're the first person I've heard say that it's cheap and a poor option for what it does. Baffling.

  • Reply 6 of 41
    solipsismxsolipsismx Posts: 19,566member
    This is about 50% more than the US Apple TV cost which, from my experiences in India, makes it a pretty good price for the Indian market. I've seen Macs at more than double what they cost in the US, sometimes not even the latest models.
    jkichline wrote: »
    The AppleTV is a great device and it's secret is in AirPlay. If you have an iPhone or iPad, this is an amazing ability to stream ANYTHING to your TV near instantly. It's a quality unit and works great (as long as you have an Internet connection that can support HD streaming of course)

    They really need to advertise AirPlay better.
  • Reply 7 of 41
    solipsismx wrote: »

    They really need to advertise AirPlay better.

    That, and they need to drop the WiFi AP requirement. Simply allow anyone within x feet radius to stream to your AppleTV, without password and all that crap. Toggle a setting in your AppleTV for all I care.
  • Reply 8 of 41
    solipsismxsolipsismx Posts: 19,566member
    philboogie wrote: »
    That, and they need to drop the WiFi AP requirement. Simply allow anyone within x feet radius to stream to your AppleTV, without password and all that crap. Toggle a setting in your AppleTV for all I care.

    Macs have that AirDrop feature which creates an ad-hoc WiFi network between two devices without detaching you from the regular WiFi. I tried this when it first arrived and it was considerably slower than going though the router. Would this be faster enough to stream HD? Are the WiFi radios in iDevices close to being capable of this feature?

    I doubt that Apple would include the option to create a standard ad-hoc network between an Apple TV and iDevice even though this could make classroom and boardroom use much simpler.
  • Reply 9 of 41

    Quote:

    Originally Posted by SolipsismX View Post



    This is about 50% more than the US Apple TV cost which, from my experiences in India, makes it a pretty good price for the Indian market. I've seen Macs at more than double what they cost in the US, sometimes not even the latest models.


    I know what you are saying that compared to current prices it might be good to be only 50% more. But compared to what an average Indian earns, that makes Apple prohibitively expensive. Most of those who can afford this price are probably those that travel overseas anyway and can pick up cheaper deals in other countries. If anything, the price must be less in India.

  • Reply 10 of 41
    solipsismxsolipsismx Posts: 19,566member
    ijoyner wrote: »
    I know what you are saying that compared to current prices it might be good to be only 50% more. But compared to what an average Indian earns, that makes Apple prohibitively expensive. Most of those who can afford this price are probably those that travel overseas anyway and can pick up cheaper deals in other countries. If anything, the price must be less in India.

    But if it was $99 it wouldn't be? :???:

    China and India have an overwhelmingly high rate of poverty but that doesn't mean that everyone is poor. They so many people that even at a small percentage there are plenty of people Apple can appeal to in these countries. You also have to take into effect disposable income, not how much one makes. If you make $30k a year in the US you probably have less disposable income than someone who makes $20k year in India.
  • Reply 11 of 41
    ijoyner wrote: »
    If anything, the price must be less in India.

    But if they have different prices compared to other countries won't 'everyone' go to the cheapest country to buy Apple products? Many steer away from the Italian iPhone for that very reason, and I think it's better to have one price covers the globe approach.
    1000

    Euro = 1.34 USD, so $977 / $1125 / $1272 for the iPhone5 then.
  • Reply 12 of 41
    solipsismx wrote: »
    philboogie wrote: »
    That, and they need to drop the WiFi AP requirement. Simply allow anyone within x feet radius to stream to your AppleTV, without password and all that crap. Toggle a setting in your AppleTV for all I care.

    Macs have that AirDrop feature which creates an ad-hoc WiFi network between two devices without detaching you from the regular WiFi. I tried this when it first arrived and it was considerably slower than going though the router. Would this be faster enough to stream HD?

    Well, seems to me if you take out the AP it would be faster, especially if iOS device and AppleTV are closer to each other than both having to go through an AP which would be further away.
    Are the WiFi radios in iDevices close to being capable of this feature?

    Yes, many people get the iPad sans cellular because they can create a personal hotspot over WiFi from their iPhone
    I doubt that Apple would include the option to create a standard ad-hoc network between an Apple TV and iDevice even though this could make classroom and boardroom use much simpler.

    It's already is on the iPhone; they need to enable this on the AppleTV. A simply option to allow for ad-hoc connection to a iOS device is all it takes.

    That said, I was downloading a large amount of data over my home WiFi (Top Gear torrent) and the music streaming over Airplay from my iPad kept dropping. Maybe the should add bluetooth to the AppleTV, though I don't know what battery life will be like on your iOS device.
  • Reply 13 of 41

    Quote:

    Originally Posted by SolipsismX View Post





    But if it was $99 it wouldn't be? image



    China and India have an overwhelmingly high rate of poverty but that doesn't mean that everyone is poor. They so many people that even at a small percentage there are plenty of people Apple can appeal to in these countries. You also have to take into effect disposable income, not how much one makes. If you make $30k a year in the US you probably have less disposable income than someone who makes $20k year in India.


    Even so, that does not justify the higher price in India. 


     


    Also what you are saying is just to reserve Apple products for the rich. I don't believe that is Apple's philosophy - hasn't it always been computers for the rest of us?


     


    Basically I'm arguing for at least price parity, but if there are different prices in different countries, at least it should be less in poor countries....


     


    otherwise.....


     


    poor countries are subsidising rich Americans.

  • Reply 14 of 41
    solipsismxsolipsismx Posts: 19,566member
    ijoyner wrote: »
    Even so, that does not justify the higher price in India. 

    Also what you are saying is just to reserve Apple products for the rich. I don't believe that is Apple's philosophy - hasn't it always been computers for the rest of us?

    Basically I'm arguing for at least price parity, but if there are different prices in different countries, at least it should be less in poor countries....

    otherwise.....

    poor countries are subsidising rich Americans.

    What? First you argued that Indians can't afford $150 and now you're saying Apple is raping Indians in favor of the US market. Gets your arguments straight.

    You think Apple is just jacking up the price so they can stick it to Indians so Americans can get a break? Seriously, WTF?! There are costs you simply aren't considering with your odd stand again Apple selling the Apple TV in India.
  • Reply 15 of 41

    Quote:

    Originally Posted by PhilBoogie View Post





    But if they have different prices compared to other countries won't 'everyone' go to the cheapest country to buy Apple products?

     


    Since they have different prices, then people ARE going to different countries to get the cheapest.


     


    Again, it really looks like poor countries are made to pay extra so Americans can have things cheap. Why should the poor of India subsidise rich Americans?


     


    The Italian case might be due to taxes, but I don't think there is much goods tax in India.

  • Reply 16 of 41
    solipsismxsolipsismx Posts: 19,566member
    ijoyner wrote: »
    Why should the poor of India subsidise rich Americans?

    Why should a device that sells a fraction of the units in one county and therefore has less economics of scale when you include the PSU, labeling, licensing, standards testing, etc. cost more than a country that sells a lot more of the same units? Why should a country that has less tariffs for selling local goods than a country that taxes heavily products from foreign nations?

    I'm starting to think you actually believe Americans are getting a discount on Apple products. :no:
  • Reply 17 of 41

    Quote:

    Originally Posted by SolipsismX View Post





    Why should a device that sells a fraction of the units in one county and therefore has less economics of scale when you include the PSU, labeling, licensing, standards testing, etc. cost more than a country that sells a lot more of the same units? Why should a country that has less tariffs for selling local goods than a country that taxes heavily products from foreign nations?



    I'm starting to think you actually believe Americans are getting a discount on Apple products. image


    Oh, I don't believe anything - I'm posing the question. What is the base price in India before taxes, etc? Recently, Apple, Adobe, and Microsoft were questioned why their software and services are more expensive in Australia than in the US - typically 50% more, sometimes up to 4x more.


     


    http://www.smh.com.au/technology/technology-news/adobe-cuts-prices-but-still-draws-flak-20130213-2ec9g.html


     


    Stay tuned...


     


    I think Apple's response was reasonable in that they said the publishing houses (for iTunes store) set the rates in different countries. For app store developers set the rates (which I think is pretty much global).


     


    If that is the case for Apple in India then good - I'd like to think Apple is doing the right thing because it thinks different.


     


    However, for many products the US pays less while the rest of the world pays more (irrespective of taxes, distribution costs, etc). So the rest of the world DOES subsidize the US. It's a natural part of the market for any company - work out how to attach you money syphon into the system and suck as hard as you can. Although it's a natural part of being the largest market, it is not necessarily right. What I'm saying is the questions are being asked, the price differences are being noticed and in a global market, any price gouging must stop where it is found to occur.

  • Reply 18 of 41
    solipsismxsolipsismx Posts: 19,566member
    Unbelievable. :no:
  • Reply 19 of 41


    Originally Posted by ijoyner View Post


    So the rest of the world DOES subsidize the US.



     


    Again, no.

  • Reply 20 of 41

    Quote:

    Originally Posted by SolipsismX View Post



    Unbelievable. image


    Well, it doesn't matter what you or I believe. What matters is the truth.

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