Vodafone India responds to complaints by lowering iPhone 3G pricing

[gauravsuneja]

Vodafone India responds to complaints by lowering iPhone 3G pricing

Sat, Aug 23, 2008 | by Robert Nelson

3G iPhone, Global 3G Carriers, iPhone News
Vodafone India responds to complaints by lowering iPhone 3G pricing

Perhaps spurred on by the widespread backlash due to the iPhone 3G pricing, Vodafone India has announced some new lower pricing. Just days before the official release they announced the pricing would be 31,000 Indian rupee (about $711 US) for the 8GB iPhone and be 36,100 Indian rupee (about $827 US) for the 16GB iPhone, and judging from the fact the launch day festivities were described as offering a “small but enthusiastic crowd” it seems something had to happen.

Of course the price drops are nice, but not overwhelming. The new price for the iPhone 3G is 29,000 Indian rupee (about $670 US) and 34,000 Indian rupee (about $785 US) for the 8GB and 16GB model respectively.

As of current the other local carrier, Bharti Airtel has not yet announced any price cut. I was also not able to find any information about what will happen to those loyal few who were willing to pay full price. If you remember the backlash Apple saw over the price cut with the original iPhone after three-months, I can just imagine how users must feel with a price cut coming just two days after the release.

[Faun]

Typical commercial gimmick !

[ring_wraith]

Ouch for those people who already bought it.

[hellgate]

just wait 4 a few more weeks and see how the price comes crashing down.they wont sell many even at 29k.

[hellknight]

Yeah.. if they wanna sell the iPhone then it should be under 20k.. and waise bhi.. iPhone is intended towards business users as all of the services in it require a reasonably fast internet connection.. more like 3G service... and the typical GPRS unlimited package costs between 300-400 Rs in India.. i think that the price of the 3G service will be more than 700-800 Rs with capped downloads.. so forget using iPhone services without paying a heavy premium to the providers..

[dd_wingrider]

Atleast someone made a start, hope airtel will follow

[ax3]

waiting 4 fwe months & u will get it @ 10k .......

[BBThumbHealer]

haha ... this was expected .... more crashes to witness soon !

[naveen_reloaded]

29k...

Come on guys... Even my rich friends will hesitate to buy one...
They still use a phone at 20-25 k instead of 29k phone...

And is it worth the price...g would say NO!

[The Conqueror]

This was expected,Just wait 4 months and it will be selling under 20k

[Pathik]

^^ No way man. There is no way it will go below 24k.

[The Conqueror]

Let us see Atleast the locked version may go below 20k

[goobimama]

So it currently costs $670 which makes it $30 more than the US version ($600+$40 tax). I don't see it coming down unless they force some sort of contract on the user, which is not allowed by TRAI. Still, nice to see it down at 29k.

[narangz]

LOL! Wait for a couple of months & you'll see huge price drops.

[thewisecrab]

Thats what the masses are waiting for
Pretty soon, it will be all too common.
One query though:
The call rates are pretty high in the US (from what I can fathom)
whereas it is dirt cheap here.
Can that be a reason for such a difference in prices between US and India? (Taxes accounted for as well)

[goobimama]

You call $30 extra 'such a difference in price'?

[thewisecrab]

Sorry dude, didnt see your post
I was comparing our price to the 199$ US Model
Clear Now.

[kumarmohit]

Is this actually lowering, more like giving a trim to the hair!

[Xccentricity]

Airtel and Vodafone are committing daylight robbery .

[naveen_reloaded]

is it worth for that price...??

[tarey_g]

Originally Posted by ~Rahul~

Airtel and Vodafone are committing daylight robbery .

They are not pointing a gun at you and forcing you to buy. Besides, it will be now easy to spot people which are 'really' not of my type .

[Indyan]

Its too expensive even at 29k. Should be below 25k.

[aryayush]

Originally Posted by ring_wraith

Ouch for those people who already bought it.

I’m not quite sure but I think they got back the extra money. I’ll confirm it and get back to you tomorrow.

[NIGHTMARE]

i bought my nokia 9500 Rs36600+2500(black) but for iphone no way its expensive no the reason is they selling in other country on Rs8500 with 1 year contract and here Rs31000 wow its mean we r fool such a scrap man.

[abhishekkulkarni]

For what it's worth the iPhone is worth 17 - 19K at the most. I understand that it's an "Apple", but the features it offers do not warrant the current price. And especially the restricted usage is a turnoff. As more and more people realise this, the market for the iPhone is going to become dead. And that's when the companies will be forced to reduce the price substantially; it's already begun happening, just weeks after the launch. I think the price will come down to 18-20K in a year and a half.

And I bet Nokia is going to launch the N96 at a tempting price. Once that happens, no one except some disillusioned Apple fanatic will buy the iPhone..

[aryayush]

… and pigs will finally take to wings.

--------------

P.S.: Vodafone didn’t charge anyone the original price after all. I know a guy who booked his iPhone in advance of the launch and still got it for the lowered price.

[krazzy]

Originally Posted by aryayush

P.S.: Vodafone didn’t charge anyone the original price after all. I know a guy who booked his iPhone in advance of the launch and still got it for the lowered price.

So only those who bought it from Airtel paid 31/37k?

[Pat]

Originally Posted by krazzy

So only those who bought it from Airtel paid 31/37k?

Well JFYI, Airtel is offering free gprs/edge services (500 MB/month) for 1 year with iPhone 3G

[victor_rambo]

What if this high price is just a marketing gimmick to get people talk more about iPhone Lets wait for some time and see what happens to the prices. After all, they do have a competitor to face in near future!

[Maverick340]

cant they at least provide unlimited grprs/edge ??