Apple stops shipments of iPhone SE, 6, 6 Plus, 6s Plus in India

Posted:
in iPhone
Apple has ceased sales of the iPhone SE, iPhone 6, iPhone 6 Plus, and iPhone 6s Plus in India, a report claims cutting out most of the lower-cost models from its regional product lineup and at the same time making it more expensive for customers in the country to buy an entry-level iPhone.




To encourage iPhone sales in India, a growing market that is dominated by low-cost smartphones, Apple has sold older models of iPhone in the region for a number of years. Some models, including the iPhone SE and iPhone 6s, are even produced in the country, but it seems a change has been made to Apple's retail strategy.

According to unnamed executives speaking to the Economic Times, Apple has stopped selling the iPhone SE, 6, 6 Plus, and 6s Plus in the region, leaving only the iPhone 6s at the low end. Supplies for the models were halted in June, while distributors and Apple's sales team have reportedly advised to traders the new entry-level model will be the iPhone 6s once existing stock of the iPhone SE and iPhone 6 generations have been exhausted.

The change will raise the barrier of entry to the Apple ecosystem for customers. While the iPhone SE used to sell for as little as 21,000 rupees ($306), the iPhone 6s currently costs 29,500 rupees ($430.) In May, Apple marketed the iPhone 6s as "now made in India," with a price tag of 26,910 rupees ($393.)

Apple does offer other devices in the market, including other models produced in the market, such as the iPhone 7 assembled by Wistron and starting to be exported to the European market. On Thursday, it was suggested Apple was preparing to launch Indian-made versions of the iPhone XS and iPhone XR, bringing the current-generation iPhones to the locally-produced roster.

In March, it was reported Apple was looking to reestablish its position as a premium device producer in India, and it appears the new report may be part of that plan. Apple is also making changes to its retail lineup, reducing the number of smaller stores in its reseller network while also working to finally get its first Apple-owned stores in the country.
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Comments

  • Reply 1 of 28
    GeorgeBMacGeorgeBMac Posts: 11,421member
    Dropping the 6 & 6+ was obvious and mandatory -- and should have been done much earlier since Apple plans to drop support of those phones in September.    It would be unethical to sell somebody a new phone and then drop support of it 2 months later.
    cornchipmuthuk_vanalingamdarwiniandude
  • Reply 2 of 28
    DAalsethDAalseth Posts: 2,783member
    One more nail in the coffin of the SE.
    cornchipJWSC
  • Reply 3 of 28
    bala1234bala1234 Posts: 142member
    I see an Iphone 7 on offer at around 35K (~$510) on amazon. Which is around same starting price as One plus's latest offerings... Kind of where they need to be as a luxury brand..
    williamlondon
  • Reply 4 of 28
    lkrupplkrupp Posts: 10,557member
    “a report claims” “from unnamed executives”. I’m impressed with the fact finding here. /s
    cornchip
  • Reply 5 of 28
    cornchipcornchip Posts: 1,945member
    DAalseth said:
    One more nail in the coffin of the SE.

    :( 
    JWSCleftoverbacon
  • Reply 6 of 28
    racerhomie3racerhomie3 Posts: 1,264member
    That’s excellent for Apple’s brand value. The 6S is great. But the 6S Plus had great all day battery life. Now one has to spend extra for the 7 Plus. I guess more importantly Apple should open the Mumbai Store first. 
    AppleExposed
  • Reply 7 of 28
    seanismorrisseanismorris Posts: 1,624member
    All hail the 6s, OS support continues far into the future.

    I’m glad I replaced the battery ($35) in mine last December.  No reason to upgraded for a long long time...
  • Reply 8 of 28
    melgrossmelgross Posts: 33,510member
    I think it’s stupid. Apple should have continued support for those phones for another year there, and in other countries where even a $300 phone is considered expensive. That would have given them time to come up with replacements, though they should have already have replacements, and even less expensive models.

    apple’s phone sales have fallen considerably in India recently, and this is going to make that worse. It’s almost as though Apple is blind to sales there, and what it takes to increase them.

    i know there will be people who scream at me for saying the obvious, but I don’t care. India, as a number of other countries, is mostly very poor. They aren’t like China, which if it weren’t for politics both there and here, is a country that’s done a lot to increase the wealth of the country. That’s why Apple’s sales were growing so rapidly there. But india’s a different case. The government there has failed, over many decades, to understand what it needs to do to fix their bad, and increasingly worse problems.

    the truth is that in order to sell a lot of phones there, you need to have, not just $300 models, but $250 and $200 models as well. Having a $150 model would help a lot. If Apple isn’t interested in that, and there’s no question that they could do it if they really wanted to, then they should just give up. The average Android phone price around the world is about $230. Android now outsells iOS by about  85% to 15%. In places like India, that ratio is even worse, much worse.
    edited July 2019 macplusplusmuthuk_vanalingamtokyojimukestral
  • Reply 9 of 28
    RajkaRajka Posts: 32member
    The average annual income in India is pegged at $1790. No doubt raising the price of the iPhone will lead to greater market share there. Maybe Indians can find a way to give up both kidneys.
    kestralAI_lias
  • Reply 10 of 28
    LatkoLatko Posts: 398member
    Rajka said:
    The average annual income in India is pegged at $1790. No doubt raising the price of the iPhone will lead to greater market share there. Maybe Indians can find a way to give up both kidneys.


    Cook should run for Indian Prime Minister, and increase the avge wealth tenfold before even trying to deploy his money mill there.
    edited July 2019 williamlondonkestral
  • Reply 11 of 28
    seanismorrisseanismorris Posts: 1,624member
    melgross said:
    I think it’s stupid. Apple should have continued support for those phones for another year there, and in other countries where even a $300 phone is considered expensive. That would have given them time to come up with replacements, though they should have already have replacements, and even less expensive models.

    apple’s phone sales have fallen considerably in India recently, and this is going to make that worse. It’s almost as though Apple is blind to sales there, and what it takes to increase them.

    i know there will be people who scream at me for saying the obvious, but I don’t care. India, as a number of other countries, is mostly very poor. They aren’t like China, which if it weren’t for politics both there and here, is a country that’s done a lot to increase the wealth of the country. That’s why Apple’s sales were growing so rapidly there. But india’s a different case. The government there has failed, over many decades, to understand what it needs to do to fix their bad, and increasingly worse problems.

    the truth is that in order to sell a lot of phones there, you need to have, not just $300 models, but $250 and $200 models as well. Having a $150 model would help a lot. If Apple isn’t interested in that, and there’s no question that they could do it if they really wanted to, then they should just give up. The average Android phone price around the world is about $230. Android now outsells iOS by about  85% to 15%. In places like India, that ratio is even worse, much worse.
    Apple shows again they don’t care about market share.  I’m sure they’ve done the math, and no longer selling the other phones leads to the highest margins/profitability in India.  Apple has concluded people will buy the vanilla 6s at the low end... or enough not to matter.

    More importantly:
    My bet is the production lines for the discontinued phones will be repurposed for higher end models.  With the trade war/tariffs taking a bite, Apple is doing some contingency planning.

    Previously, most iPhones made in India were sold in India, that’s going to change.  This will likely make the Indian govt happy with higher taxes from Apple.

    Basically, iPhone sales in India are less important than avoiding tariffs (coming into the US). If President Trump fires Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross, the trade war may go FUBAR fast, with China just waiting out Trumps time as President.

    Big picture, this is a smart move by Apple.
    racerhomie3radarthekat
  • Reply 12 of 28
    racerhomie3racerhomie3 Posts: 1,264member
    Rajka said:
    The average annual income in India is pegged at $1790. No doubt raising the price of the iPhone will lead to greater market share there. Maybe Indians can find a way to give up both kidneys.
    You forget Apple isn’t targeting ave. Indians with $1800 yearly income. They are targeting Tier 1 city folks & people in the upper middle class. For these people Apple should inprove the services of hardware with Apple Stores & services.Numbers don’t  matter much to Apple. Even though their market share is less their profits & revenue in India has increased. 
    AppleExposedJWSC
  • Reply 13 of 28
    macplusplusmacplusplus Posts: 2,112member
    The article doesn’t mention whether those withdrawn models are still sold in retail channels or not. In about two months Apple will release a new iPhone and some models may be pushed downward in price and some models may be withdrawn. If they noticed a stock excess in retail channels still loading that stock with the continuous delivery of old models doesn’t make sense. I bet there are retail channels and Telco operators in India that still sell these withdrawn models.
    radarthekatAppleExposed
  • Reply 14 of 28
    melgrossmelgross Posts: 33,510member
    melgross said:
    I think it’s stupid. Apple should have continued support for those phones for another year there, and in other countries where even a $300 phone is considered expensive. That would have given them time to come up with replacements, though they should have already have replacements, and even less expensive models.

    apple’s phone sales have fallen considerably in India recently, and this is going to make that worse. It’s almost as though Apple is blind to sales there, and what it takes to increase them.

    i know there will be people who scream at me for saying the obvious, but I don’t care. India, as a number of other countries, is mostly very poor. They aren’t like China, which if it weren’t for politics both there and here, is a country that’s done a lot to increase the wealth of the country. That’s why Apple’s sales were growing so rapidly there. But india’s a different case. The government there has failed, over many decades, to understand what it needs to do to fix their bad, and increasingly worse problems.

    the truth is that in order to sell a lot of phones there, you need to have, not just $300 models, but $250 and $200 models as well. Having a $150 model would help a lot. If Apple isn’t interested in that, and there’s no question that they could do it if they really wanted to, then they should just give up. The average Android phone price around the world is about $230. Android now outsells iOS by about  85% to 15%. In places like India, that ratio is even worse, much worse.
    Apple shows again they don’t care about market share.  I’m sure they’ve done the math, and no longer selling the other phones leads to the highest margins/profitability in India.  Apple has concluded people will buy the vanilla 6s at the low end... or enough not to matter.

    More importantly:
    My bet is the production lines for the discontinued phones will be repurposed for higher end models.  With the trade war/tariffs taking a bite, Apple is doing some contingency planning.

    Previously, most iPhones made in India were sold in India, that’s going to change.  This will likely make the Indian govt happy with higher taxes from Apple.

    Basically, iPhone sales in India are less important than avoiding tariffs (coming into the US). If President Trump fires Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross, the trade war may go FUBAR fast, with China just waiting out Trumps time as President.

    Big picture, this is a smart move by Apple.
    Apple has made a big deal about phone sales in India, even going to meet with the ministry and Prime Minister. They’ve opened production, even though they complained, somewhat truthfully, that India’s infrastructure is inadequate. It’s a reason why most foreign manufacturers don’t want  to produce there. Low educational levels are another reason. The inability of local manufacturers to produce needed materials and parts is another. The laws concerning importation of goods is another. A very corrupt system is yet another.

    with Apple willing to jump through all of these hoops, it can be seen that they are taking India seriously. they’ve stated, obliquely, that they want India to be a backup to the turmoil in China. That’s both in manufacturing and sales. Mostly sales.

    But it’s very possible that Apple really doesn’t understand India as well as they think.
    gatorguykestral
  • Reply 15 of 28
    melgrossmelgross Posts: 33,510member

    Rajka said:
    The average annual income in India is pegged at $1790. No doubt raising the price of the iPhone will lead to greater market share there. Maybe Indians can find a way to give up both kidneys.
    You forget Apple isn’t targeting ave. Indians with $1800 yearly income. They are targeting Tier 1 city folks & people in the upper middle class. For these people Apple should inprove the services of hardware with Apple Stores & services.Numbers don’t  matter much to Apple. Even though their market share is less their profits & revenue in India has increased. 
    The middle class in India is smaller than you think. It’s also poorer than the middle class in China, which is poorer than in the US. Phone sales have been contracting in India for several years. When you have very sales, which is the case for Apple, you have no profit either. It’s costing Apple a grr]eat deal to set up in India with no real payback so far.

    numbers do matter to Apple, and I’m tired of people saying otherwise.
    AppleExposed
  • Reply 16 of 28
    racerhomie3racerhomie3 Posts: 1,264member
    melgross said:

    Rajka said:
    The average annual income in India is pegged at $1790. No doubt raising the price of the iPhone will lead to greater market share there. Maybe Indians can find a way to give up both kidneys.
    You forget Apple isn’t targeting ave. Indians with $1800 yearly income. They are targeting Tier 1 city folks & people in the upper middle class. For these people Apple should inprove the services of hardware with Apple Stores & services.Numbers don’t  matter much to Apple. Even though their market share is less their profits & revenue in India has increased. 
    The middle class in India is smaller than you think. It’s also poorer than the middle class in China, which is poorer than in the US. Phone sales have been contracting in India for several years. When you have very sales, which is the case for Apple, you have no profit either. It’s costing Apple a grr]eat deal to set up in India with no real payback so far.

    numbers do matter to Apple, and I’m tired of people saying otherwise.
    You are wrong. I said upper middle class & Tier 1 city folks.In the economic times article it clearly states that Apple’s profits & revenue are increasing in India. Plus the investments Foxconn is putting in India is for making it an export hub, with 80%-90% production capacity going to foreign iPhone markets.Domestic markets aren’t big in India. Plus Apple won’t lower its standard for India. And that’s excellent.
  • Reply 17 of 28
    radarthekatradarthekat Posts: 3,842moderator
    melgross said:
    I think it’s stupid. Apple should have continued support for those phones for another year there, and in other countries where even a $300 phone is considered expensive. That would have given them time to come up with replacements, though they should have already have replacements, and even less expensive models.

    apple’s phone sales have fallen considerably in India recently, and this is going to make that worse. It’s almost as though Apple is blind to sales there, and what it takes to increase them.

    i know there will be people who scream at me for saying the obvious, but I don’t care. India, as a number of other countries, is mostly very poor. They aren’t like China, which if it weren’t for politics both there and here, is a country that’s done a lot to increase the wealth of the country. That’s why Apple’s sales were growing so rapidly there. But india’s a different case. The government there has failed, over many decades, to understand what it needs to do to fix their bad, and increasingly worse problems.

    the truth is that in order to sell a lot of phones there, you need to have, not just $300 models, but $250 and $200 models as well. Having a $150 model would help a lot. If Apple isn’t interested in that, and there’s no question that they could do it if they really wanted to, then they should just give up. The average Android phone price around the world is about $230. Android now outsells iOS by about  85% to 15%. In places like India, that ratio is even worse, much worse.
    Apple has hidden swell known secret right in plain sight.  It has ridden the growth of the middle class worldwide.  There’s reason to believe the iOS installed base is now large enough for Apple to go a bit lower in price in order to monetize services revenue, but I think that still needs a middle class user base.  So I don’t expect Apple to shift average prices significantly lower.  The company has been patient in waiting growth of the middle class to grow its sales.  
  • Reply 18 of 28
    AppleExposedAppleExposed Posts: 1,805unconfirmed, member
    cornchip said:
    DAalseth said:
    One more nail in the coffin of the SE.

    :( 
    Could be good news. Could mean a new SE size is coming. September is just around the corner.

    That’s excellent for Apple’s brand value. The 6S is great. But the 6S Plus had great all day battery life. Now one has to spend extra for the 7 Plus. I guess more importantly Apple should open the Mumbai Store first. 

    If Apple wants to sell in a country they need to treat them just as well as the U.S.

    This means features/services/stores.
  • Reply 19 of 28
    melgrossmelgross Posts: 33,510member
    melgross said:

    Rajka said:
    The average annual income in India is pegged at $1790. No doubt raising the price of the iPhone will lead to greater market share there. Maybe Indians can find a way to give up both kidneys.
    You forget Apple isn’t targeting ave. Indians with $1800 yearly income. They are targeting Tier 1 city folks & people in the upper middle class. For these people Apple should inprove the services of hardware with Apple Stores & services.Numbers don’t  matter much to Apple. Even though their market share is less their profits & revenue in India has increased. 
    The middle class in India is smaller than you think. It’s also poorer than the middle class in China, which is poorer than in the US. Phone sales have been contracting in India for several years. When you have very sales, which is the case for Apple, you have no profit either. It’s costing Apple a grr]eat deal to set up in India with no real payback so far.

    numbers do matter to Apple, and I’m tired of people saying otherwise.
    You are wrong. I said upper middle class & Tier 1 city folks.In the economic times article it clearly states that Apple’s profits & revenue are increasing in India. Plus the investments Foxconn is putting in India is for making it an export hub, with 80%-90% production capacity going to foreign iPhone markets.Domestic markets aren’t big in India. Plus Apple won’t lower its standard for India. And that’s excellent.
    I’d like to see that article, or a quote from it, since I no longer subscribe. Something recent, that is.
  • Reply 20 of 28
    melgrossmelgross Posts: 33,510member

    melgross said:
    I think it’s stupid. Apple should have continued support for those phones for another year there, and in other countries where even a $300 phone is considered expensive. That would have given them time to come up with replacements, though they should have already have replacements, and even less expensive models.

    apple’s phone sales have fallen considerably in India recently, and this is going to make that worse. It’s almost as though Apple is blind to sales there, and what it takes to increase them.

    i know there will be people who scream at me for saying the obvious, but I don’t care. India, as a number of other countries, is mostly very poor. They aren’t like China, which if it weren’t for politics both there and here, is a country that’s done a lot to increase the wealth of the country. That’s why Apple’s sales were growing so rapidly there. But india’s a different case. The government there has failed, over many decades, to understand what it needs to do to fix their bad, and increasingly worse problems.

    the truth is that in order to sell a lot of phones there, you need to have, not just $300 models, but $250 and $200 models as well. Having a $150 model would help a lot. If Apple isn’t interested in that, and there’s no question that they could do it if they really wanted to, then they should just give up. The average Android phone price around the world is about $230. Android now outsells iOS by about  85% to 15%. In places like India, that ratio is even worse, much worse.
    Apple has hidden swell known secret right in plain sight.  It has ridden the growth of the middle class worldwide.  There’s reason to believe the iOS installed base is now large enough for Apple to go a bit lower in price in order to monetize services revenue, but I think that still needs a middle class user base.  So I don’t expect Apple to shift average prices significantly lower.  The company has been patient in waiting growth of the middle class to grow its sales.  
    In India, most of the middle class would be considered as marginal poor. A $500 phone isn’t for their middle class. Maybe for the upper middle class, of which there really aren’t that many. Anything more expensive is just for the wealthy. At any rate, recent iPhone sales in India have dropped substantially.
    kestralAI_lias
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