Apple iPhone 5 is yet to be launched in India and retailers have started taking pre-orders, but at least one seller has tried to one-up the competition by slashing the prices.
THB had reported on Friday that the change in Apple's retail strategy could result in differential pricing and a possible price war in iPhone 5 prices in the weeks to come.
The 16GB version of iPhone 5 will be available for Rs 45,500 in India, according to Apple master distributors Redington and Ingram Micro and companies like Airtel, Infibeam and Saholic are taking advance bookings at the same price.
However, a listing at online retailer Tradus shows that a seller is offering the device at a price of Rs 44,900, a discount of Rs 600. This listing is in the name of HS Distributors, a Jaipur-based firm, which is offering delivery for the device within eight to 10 days.
Though the difference is not much, it signals that resellers are already getting aggressive about Apple products as well. Apple iPhones and iPads usually sell at a premium in India and the country has a very small, niche market for the company's products due to high pricing. The year-old iPhone 4S still costs more than Samsung and HTC's flagship smartphones in India.
The price war can be attributed to Apple's change in retail strategy. The company has shifted away from its carrier partners to master distributors for iPhone 5. It has appointed Ingram Micro and Redington as the two master distributors for the smartphone. They will supply the device to small and large retailers respectively.
With retailers across the country now having access to iPhones, it is likely that they will undercut the prices in order to boost volumes, exactly what HS Distributors has done. By sacrificing their margins in order to gain volumes, such retailers will push down the selling price of the device and make it slightly more accessible to the buyers.
However, until a well-known volume retailer does not start such a price war, it will have no bearing on overall sales and Apple's market share in the country.
Meanwhile, Apple iPad mini, which was unveiled globally just last week, has also made its debut in India, albeit unofficially! Though Apple India's distributors are yet to launch iPad Mini in India, online retailer eBay India has said that the Wi-Fi-only 16GB variant of Apple's mini-tablet is now up for sale on its website, in white as well as black colours.
The company has said "iPad Mini, which is being marketed as a great e-reader and a product for first-time tablet shoppers, can be bought at unbeatable prices."
FirangiBhai, another online retailer, is also taking pre-orders for the device. The website is selling the 16, 32 and 64GB Wi-Fi-only versions of iPad mini in India at Rs 26,900, Rs 34,290 and Rs 41,790, respectively. The site claims that the device will be delivered within a week of the product's official launch in the USA.
As reported by THB three days ago, the iPhone 5, Apple's latest smartphone, will be officially launched in the country on November 2, 2012. The 16, 32 and 64GB variants of the device are officially priced at Rs 45,500, Rs 52,500 and Rs 59,500, respectively.
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