Apple doesn’t do cheap, get used to it India!

It’s September and Apple is out with its new iPhones, iPhone 7 and iPhone 7 Plus. The new iPhone, Apple claims is the best iPhone ever from Apple, well we don’t know about that but it sure comes packed with a lot more than we expected. For starters, Apple has done away with 16GB variant, it now starts with 32GB and goes up to 256GB, the storage comes in handy specially when Apple has pumped all of its energy in the camera, for the first time iPhone 7 is water resistant, the Plus variant has dual camera, headphone jack is gone and the new iPhone comes in a new black finish.

So yes, there is that. But the biggest challenge for Apple continues to be the same in India, the pricing. Apple will be launching the new iPhone 7 in India on 7th of October and the starting price of the new phone will be Rs. 60,000. In the smartphone market that India has become, you can buy smartphones for the whole family for that amount without compromising much on the specs and design! The market has changed. This could very well be one of the reasons why Apple shipped just 800,000 smartphones in India in the second quarter of 2016 when it shipped 1.2 million handsets same quarter last year, according to Strategy Analytics.

But Apple doesn’t do cheap. Even the accessories from Apple will cost you more than an average smartphone in India. For instance the newly launched Apple-designed AirPods will be priced at Rs. 15,400 in India which is roughly the same price you can buy a OnePlus One phone that has been extremely popular in India and has sold millions already.

Now if you have made up your mind to buy the iPhone7 you would certainly want to guard it well if not with life! Apple has you covered. And yes, it’s not cheap because Apple doesn’t do cheap. Your basic silicon cases will be available staring at Rs. 2900 in India just about the same price as recently launched Reliance Jio’s 4G smartphone which was priced at Rs. 2999. Although Apple has worked on the new iPhone’s battery, just in case you need a smart battery case it’s available in black and white and buying that will set you back by Rs. 8900. Let’s see what you can buy with that amount, you can buy the recently launched, very popular Xiaomi Redmi 3S plus smartphone, a Mi cover for the phone, a Mi 10,000 mAh external battery and maybe you can even put in a Mi mini fan and a Mi reading light! You see in India, pricing continues to be the key. Take it or leave it.

According to data from Strategy Analytics, India is expected to buy some 139 million smartphones this year, but the majority of these will be Android devices costing less than Rs. 10,000. And Apple has struggled with its sales here in India leading to a 50% drop in the company’s market share bringing it to a 2% in a year from an earlier 4% market share in the country. Apple CEO Tim Cook has asserted that Apple sees India as a long term bet, we’ll have to see how exactly Apple is looking to grow in the world’s fastest growing smartphone market even though Apple doesn’t do cheap.