Apple has partnered with e-commerce giant Flipkart to sell the iPhone 7 and 7 Plus in India, where the phones are expected to launch on October 7 (via Mashable).
The online retail partnership means Flipkart will source iPhones directly from Apple instead of from third-party suppliers, which it has relied on in the past. The deal will ensure Flipkart earns a higher margin on every sale, but likely fewer discounts for customers.
Apple has also struck a deal with Indian e-commerce company Infibeam to directly sell its iPhones, but the partnership with Flipkart includes plans to sell iPads and Macs as well.
Apple does not yet have a license to sell products directly to consumers in India, which has led to buyers going through third-party retail stores to get hold of the company's flagship phones. Traditionally, Flipkart has also used third parties to sell Apple products through its online marketplace, often with heavy discounts in order to compete with offerings from rival e-commerce giants like Amazon India and Paytm.
Despite the potential loss of some customers looking for discounted smartphones, the new partnership guarantees Flipkart a robust supply chain and better marketing support from Apple. It should also help Apple retain more control over pricing, thereby avoiding a price war in India similar to the one that took place in 2015.
Last year, Amazon India, Paytm, Flipkart, and Snapdeal offered heavily discounted iPhones to buyers, with the iPhone 6s base model, which is officially priced at Rs 63,000 ($945), being sold for as low as Rs 45,000 ($675) shortly after release.
The iPhone 7 will retail at Rs 60,000 ($900), with the base iPhone 7 Plus model costing Rs 72,000 ($1,080).
Top Rated Comments
"If you fall down with your iPhone 6s/7 is in your pocket and you hear a crack, you just pray that let it be my leg".
Where are the Australians and Europeans complaining about prices in their countries. Look at what we have to pay for iPhones. :)
Also, it's not just India where you see iPhones very popular in undeveloped areas. Even in the poorest parts of the US, in relative terms to other parts of the US and not compared to other undeveloped parts of the world, where there is little economic vitality, low income housing, relatively poor wages, high unemployment, crime, and over population, with limited civic functions and deteriorating social services (fire, police, education, etc.), and barely enough food to feed the population, there are TONS of people with iPhones. Almost shockingly considering the high cost of the devices.
One of my felllow colleagues is a professor in the IT security department from India and we have a laugh all the time over his stories and antics from his "homeland" so that joke was spot on and very humorous in a mildly amusing true kind of way lol.
For what it's worth, I don't about you, but when I buy my new iPhones I always buy the biggest phone with the most memory under the pretense of future planned profit from a later selling date. However, to this day, I have never once ever sold an old iPhone lol. In my mind I buy them to last but always give in and buy a new one just the next year under the guise of "needing the new feature set to increase efficiency in my workflow" when all along I think I just like new shiny things lol.
But in the end, no matter who you are, or where you are from, a broken iPhone hurts; more some than others, and more so financially than for others, but it still hurts lol.
Thanks for the laugh friend.
USVet