Apple (iPhone) Drops a Bomb on Indian Mobile Consumers !!!

The country, which is among the fastest growing telecom market in world for mobile companies, cellphone makers and telecommunication organisations, has been bombed by an unaffordable price tag of iPhone 3G ( $715 for 8GB version and $ 850 for 16GB version, taxes can be extra! ) by APPLE Inc. through their exclusive distributors Vodafone, India. Bharti Airtel will announce its pricing on 22nd of August or later. So why is the pricing so high? As everyone is aware that in US, the price of Apple iPhone 3G is being given on a subsidized price to the customers for $199 + taxes and locked in subscription for 2 years by AT&T (with monthly billing cycle). Are Indian Cellphone service providers becoming selfish, by selling a gadget at an unrealistic pricing and going to put entire burden on the consumers, already reeling under high inflation or do they have a strategy in place to offer Indian consumers at a much lower price. Indian service providers, which are bringing iPhone are not sure, when they will be allocated 3G spectrum, so don’t expect 3G services to be ready on iPhone for several months probably. When we compare so many things with US, why not compare their iPhone prices?

India, which is most price sensitive market, monopolistic policies being mutually agreed by either one or both may reign in unfair trade practices by them to rule here, is MRTPC  listening?

MRTPC – The Monopolies and Restrictive Trade Practices Commission, India

All the observations are my personal observations.