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Apple has appointed one of its longest serving executives as its new head of sales in India, as the company goes in search of a bigger share of the country's massive smartphone market.

Michel Coulomb will replace Sanjay Kaul as lead of sales operations, according to Reuters. Coulomb has worked with Apple since 2003, and was most recently Apple's managing director in South Asia, according to details available on his LinkedIn profile.

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Earlier on Tuesday, the Economic Times reported that Kaul would be leaving after six years with Apple, citing people familiar with the matter.

Rumors of the new appointment followed news on Monday that Apple has increased retail prices for most of its iPhones in India, after the government last week raised taxes on imported phones in an effort to boost local manufacturing.

In line with Prime Minister Narendra Modi's Made in India initiative, customs duty on phones increased to 15 percent from 10 percent. Apart from iPhone SE units which are assembled in Apple's Bengaluru-based plant, the price of iPhone models rose by about 3.5 percent across the board. The most expensive model, a 256GB iPhone X, now costs 105,720 rupees ($1,646), up from 102,000 rupees ($1,593).

Apple has been pursuing a range of tax and policy changes in recent months to help build out its iPhone assembly infrastructure in India, as it seeks to grab a bigger share of the world's third-largest smartphone market.

Earlier this month, Reuters reported that Apple had asked the Indian government to defer a planned increase in import taxes on mobile phone parts, in order to give the company time to expand its manufacturing in the country, but that plea appears to have fallen on deaf ears.

Apple's sales in India rose 17 percent to $1.81 billion in the fiscal year to March 2017, but that's a lot slower than the 50 percent growth in the previous year. Apple's market share in the country remains at around 2 percent.

Article Link: Apple Appoints New Sales Lead in India Following iPhone Price Hike
 
$1,646 is way more than US price. Samsung galaxy Note 8 is much less in comparison to this. ($1050)
 
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$1,646 is way more than US price. Samsung galaxy Note 8 is much less in comparison to this. ($1050)
There is no way that $1646 is more than $1149! o_O
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Yet rich people will not care. Getting a small percentage of a huge population is still money.
Yep. A small percentage of a population exceeding 1 billion is a LOT of money.
 
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They need to work like Samsung to make the pricing in line with international market (in comparison with US). Every year Apple increases prices by atleast $150 for the last several years. It started with Rs 27,000 around 2009, now reached at Rs 105,000 in 8 years it it multiplied many times!! In US it was $500 in 2009 and now it is $1100. Very few nut cases only shell out that much upfront for a mobile phone in this place.

For comparison, Samsung Note 8 is sold at Rs 68,000 with a Rs 8,000 cash back!
 
They need to work like Samsung to make the pricing in line with international market (in comparison with US). Every year Apple increases prices by atleast $150 for the last several years. It started with Rs 27,000 around 2009, now reached at Rs 105,000 in 8 years it it multiplied many times!! In US it was $500 in 2009 and now it is $1100. Very few nut cases only shell out that much upfront for a mobile phone in this place.

For comparison, Samsung Note 8 is sold at Rs 68,000 with a Rs 8,000 cash back!

Just buy from companies who manufacture locally and price sensibly.
 
Honestly my family just ends up flying out to Singapore or even the States and picks up a new device. Modi needs to incentivize not punish foreign companies to come to India. If there is demand (and trust me there is), Apple can either jack up the rates and let people come to them, or they can try to put in time and effort to try to make some devices in the country and see if the margin is worth it. First option may win out.
 
I'm curious .... does Michel Coulomb speak any of the native languages spoken within India? I'd think that would help with negotiations and continued business there between the Indian government and Apple.

I personally think it's a closed minded system to increase taxes on imported items as a way to increase business/jobs creation within a country's borders. I'm not sure if there has been any solid proof this increases the local economy of any country.


Looking forward to seeing the SE get a refresh in hardware/features/design.
 
Honestly my family just ends up flying out to Singapore or even the States and picks up a new device. Modi needs to incentivize not punish foreign companies to come to India. If there is demand (and trust me there is), Apple can either jack up the rates and let people come to them, or they can try to put in time and effort to try to make some devices in the country and see if the margin is worth it. First option may win out.

Two things; First how is flying to US and buying an iPhone is cheaper?

Second, there is the import tax here for a reason.
 
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