There's no way Apple can ever sell many iPhones in India. Apple doesn't sell $100 smartphones. A used iPhone 4s could be too expensive for most Indian consumers. That's just the way it is. I'm sure Apple must realize this and is merely going through the motions so as not to insult India. India should have allowed Apple to sell refurbished iPhones to consumers but pride seems to be more important than common sense. Both Apple and Indian consumers lose out. Android smartphones have about 98% market share in India. Just unbelievable. That fact alone practically obliterates any chance of Apple gaining global smartphone market share percentage. The Android smartphone manufacturers are laughing hard at Apple in India.
India does not discriminate for or against apple. It does not allow any used or refurbished goods to be sold in the country (from any company), since such a regulation can and will be misused by the 'global' corporations to dump electronic junk in the country.
The restriction exists for the sake of the environment, and we don't see any reason why it should be changed.
A valid concern, but India is currently neck-deep in toxic materials and chemicals which leech into the ground and water supply.
All the more reason to prevent e-waste from being dumped to the extent possible through legislations, isn't it?
I hope Apple understand this, I believe they do and are working on a bigger plan and it will work out. We also know Apple does not care about market share they only sell their products at one price and if you want it you have to pay the price.
I know there are lots of people who visit this site who have an India background or are from India. One things I can said about them their national pride is as great as the US if not more and because of this they think India is going to be the next great economic super power. Their belief comes from having 1.3B people which feeds into the more is always better, they have highest market share of people in the world so they think they will be greater than the US or China.
However, every India i have meet or talked to seem to miss the obvious, most of the country is mess and lack the money to do anything different. This publish report highlights all the things going on in India. The most interesting things about India which I learn from this report most everyone rather spend money on a wedding than luxury items as an example if success. Everything I have heard from people on here and other places see India in a completely different light than this report. This report explains what is happening in India and why Apple will not see the same success they see in China and the US.
India has a long upward battle, they have lots of infrastructure issues, they have huge income disparity issues. The people making most of the money work for the Government, it is the single largest employer. Imagine if people who worked in the US government made more than people in high tech. As % of income India spend far more on food than anything else, they are still struggling to feed themselves. If someone in India wants a data plan on their phone they have to give up eating something.
I am from India. Unlike you, I wouldn't claim to understand India as well as you claim to. This is a country with many languages, different cultures, with all of us living together peacefully (largely). Hence I am not going to attempt to disprove your rant in the first 3 paragraphs. Just one point I would like to highlight - If someone in India wants a data plan on their phone they have to give up eating something. That is utter non-sense. I have unlimited calls, SMSs and data of 1 GB/day in my Airtel mobile - ALL for $3/month. As far as I know, this is one of lowest tariffs anywhere in the world. If you have any sources to prove that "if someone in India wants a data plan on their phone, they have to give up eating something", please feel free to do so.
There's no way Apple can ever sell many iPhones in India. Apple doesn't sell $100 smartphones. A used iPhone 4s could be too expensive for most Indian consumers. That's just the way it is. I'm sure Apple must realize this and is merely going through the motions so as not to insult India. India should have allowed Apple to sell refurbished iPhones to consumers but pride seems to be more important than common sense. Both Apple and Indian consumers lose out. Android smartphones have about 98% market share in India. Just unbelievable. That fact alone practically obliterates any chance of Apple gaining global smartphone market share percentage. The Android smartphone manufacturers are laughing hard at Apple in India.
India does not discriminate for or against apple. It does not allow any used or refurbished goods to be sold in the country (from any company), since such a regulation can and will be misused by the 'global' corporations to dump electronic junk in the country.
The restriction exists for the sake of the environment, and we don't see any reason why it should be changed.
Today's story about iOS throttling phones because of aging/bad battery (and not letting users know they were doing that) reminded me of your Post about India not allowing Apple to sell refurbished phones in India. I think that why Apple want to sell them there is because they have millions and millions of phones that they know are perfectly good from Trade-ins for new phones that they know only need a new battery to work. I guess that's how Apple generates the 90% of profits for all phone companies. Built in obsolescence so that they can trigger new sells and then resell the older phones in third world countries like India.
India does not discriminate for or against apple. It does not allow any used or refurbished goods to be sold in the country (from any company), since such a regulation can and will be misused by the 'global' corporations to dump electronic junk in the country.
The restriction exists for the sake of the environment, and we don't see any reason why it should be changed.
Do you believe this yourself? Is it better for the environment to give a piece of electronics a second life or to discard it and manufacture a new one? If there is consumer-demand for refurbished devices at considerable prices they're definitely *not* electronic junk.
Ofcourse. It is not a matter of faith, it is fact. Because it is expensive to handle e-waste in the west and many small European countries have run out of landfills, a host of dubious organisations have come up that try to ship e-waste to countries like india where unregulated operations without safety measure are run. Results in a lot of lead/mercury poisoning. This happens despite all of it being illegal. Thankfully they have really cracked down on this stuff since 2010, and so it is highly contained.
Here's an article from 2004 that gives an idea of the situation before:
Now imagine if they leave a loophole like the one that apple is asking for. It is not going to happen.
Lets all get this straight, it was not like US companies just back up dump truck in india and started to offload this stuff in India. Some Indian company along with its government allowed this to happen. I suspect some Indian entrepreneur thought they were going to cash in on recycling electronic and recover the gold and silver. Then realize India does not have the technology to recover the gold or found out real fast it was too costly. Before they new it the all stack up and they did not know what to do with. I also notice they were attempting to recycle cargo ships and they did not work out real well since no one would buy the poor quality steel India product. China steel is better grade and is mostly made from new iron ore.
Typical, blame everyone else for the short coming of India's government. There is so much corruption in India, that is why government workers make more than most people in the country.
I really wanted to provide a logical reply, but your post is so not going anywhere, I don't even know what to say.
So, i'll stick to one point. Ofcourse there are indian business people culpable in sending e-waste over to india. It is a low-cost way of obtaining over 100+ metals that go into electronics. Business folk don't belong to a nation, they are only interested in profits. But, that doesn't mean the people of india or the government want it that way. They do the best they can to limit the situation, just like any other country. If the people or government were capable of stamping these things out a 100% you wouldn't have poverty, mafia, drugs or any other ills anywhere in the world including china and US. China has an equally bad e-waste problem BTW.
And regarding the ships / steel random digression in your post - you should check out which is the largest steel company in the world today - ArcellorMittal owned by Sunil Mittal is three times the second largest company china state-owned Baosteel. I rest my case.
I am familiar with ArcellorMittal, and they own and operate steel plants over all over the world, just because the British Indian born businessman orchestra a take over of a number steel operations who were suffering at the time does not mean the steel product in India meets the quality standard of the US. That was my point. Very little steel from India is imported into the US, most of it comes from China.
My other point is India has problem from their own making, not what people outside the country is doing. Just like the US problem most of them are cause by our government not what companies may or may not be doing.
In overprotective countries such as India, Brazil and Turkey it is difficult for Apple to push for competitive prices because of over-regulation, high taxes and market restraint measures that in practice only make the consumer's life harder and more expensive.
Apple really does have a problem that they need to solve.
Look at this - Google Pixel 2 costs $699 in the US (after tax), and ₹48,500 (~$750) in india without any special discounts.
iphone X costs $1080 in the US (after tax), and ₹89,000 (~$1390) in india. iphone 8 costs $760 in the US (after tax), and ₹55,000 (~$860) in India after a ₹9,000 (~$140) discount that is currently running.
Google or its subsidiaries don't make phones in india either. So, why this $200-$300 discrepancy?
Comments
Today's story about iOS throttling phones because of aging/bad battery (and not letting users know they were doing that) reminded me of your Post about India not allowing Apple to sell refurbished phones in India. I think that why Apple want to sell them there is because they have millions and millions of phones that they know are perfectly good from Trade-ins for new phones that they know only need a new battery to work. I guess that's how Apple generates the 90% of profits for all phone companies. Built in obsolescence so that they can trigger new sells and then resell the older phones in third world countries like India.
I am familiar with ArcellorMittal, and they own and operate steel plants over all over the world, just because the British Indian born businessman orchestra a take over of a number steel operations who were suffering at the time does not mean the steel product in India meets the quality standard of the US. That was my point. Very little steel from India is imported into the US, most of it comes from China.
My other point is India has problem from their own making, not what people outside the country is doing. Just like the US problem most of them are cause by our government not what companies may or may not be doing.
Look at this - Google Pixel 2 costs $699 in the US (after tax), and ₹48,500 (~$750) in india without any special discounts.
iphone X costs $1080 in the US (after tax), and ₹89,000 (~$1390) in india.
iphone 8 costs $760 in the US (after tax), and ₹55,000 (~$860) in India after a ₹9,000 (~$140) discount that is currently running.
Google or its subsidiaries don't make phones in india either. So, why this $200-$300 discrepancy?