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Would you pay $1070 for an iPhone?

C

colbertnation

macrumors regular
Original poster
Nov 20, 2009
163
259
Many of you probably don't know, but the 4S is going to be released in India on Nov 25th.

The unfair part about this is that Apple has tagged on $200 to the iPhone price in India, such that the off-contract iPhone 4S 16GB is $850, 32GB is $970, and the 64GB is $1070. (http://www.tuaw.com/2011/11/21/the-high-price-of-the-iphone-4s-in-india/). Obviously this raises many questions, and has sparked some outrage: http://economictimes.indiatimes.com...n-its-us-retail-cost/articleshow/10809024.cms.

The interesting part about this though, is that currently, in pre-order stage, the 64 GB model (both black and white) at $1070 is sold out. Of all the models, the 64 GB seems to be the most popular there.

Edit: Here's the link. Check out the prices yourself: http://www.ncarry.com/aircel/preorder.php?ref=aircel
(currently, the currency is trading around 51INR to 1USD).

How about you guys? Do you see yourself paying $1070 for an unlocked, off contract 64 GB iPhone 4S?

Edit: It seems that this is the highest price for an iPhone 4S anywhere in the world. Jeez Apple...
 
Last edited:
Can't speak for anyone else, but the highest I would ever pay for a phone is $210.94 :D
 
You need to bear in mind that in the local currency, it could well be a very reasonable price, just because it equates to $1070 doesn't make it "expensive" - that is only relative to the USA.

The 16GB iPhone in the uk is £499, that's about $780 but that doesn't mean we find it that expensive (well that's not true) - its the going rate for a top end smart phone, especially when you know you will get more than half back in a years time when you sell it.
 
colbertnation said:
Many of you probably don't know, but the 4S is going to be released in India on Nov 25th.

The unfair part about this is that Apple has tagged on $200 to the iPhone price in India, such that the off-contract iPhone 4S 16GB is $850, 32GB is $970, and the 64GB is $1070. (http://www.tuaw.com/2011/11/21/the-high-price-of-the-iphone-4s-in-india/). Obviously this raises many questions, and has sparked some outrage: http://economictimes.indiatimes.com...n-its-us-retail-cost/articleshow/10809024.cms.

The interesting part about this though, is that currently, in pre-order stage, the 64 GB model (both black and white) at $1070 is sold out. Of all the models, the 64 GB seems to be the most popular there.

How about you guys? Do you see yourself paying $1070 for an unlocked, off contract 64 GB iPhone 4S?

Edit: It seems that this is the highest price for an iPhone 4S anywhere in the world. Jeez Apple...
Click to expand...

What is your beef with Apple? If it was too expensive it wouldn't sell, period.
 
MBHockey said:
What is your beef with Apple? If it was too expensive it wouldn't sell, period.
Click to expand...

What are you talking about? I don't have any beef with Apple. I'm just stating what the facts are, including general outrage in India over the price of the iPhone. Jeez man, relax.
 
India isn't the only country where the price is much higher as several posts in this thread have indicated. Here in the UK the 64GB is £699 which is approximately $1050.
 
TM WAZZA said:
64GB 4S in NZ is $1008 USD.
Click to expand...

My currency conversion worked it out at $1010! i wonder if the exchange rate did a blip between the times we checked it

to the OP: I don't know what the actual rate was the day I dropped $1349 NZD on my 64gb 4s, but yeah some countries don't have a lot of other choices. Maybe India has gst or vat or some other kind of sales taxes like NZ does. I'm happy with my unlocked iPhone, it will save me a lot of money in the long run since I don't use mobile data much and rarely text or call anyone. I use mine on prepay plans. A $20NZD top up on the phone lasts me over six months, and it will only cost me $10 - $20 NZD a month for my data plan
 
Hermes Monster said:
You need to bear in mind that in the local currency, it could well be a very reasonable price, just because it equates to $1070 doesn't make it "expensive" - that is only relative to the USA.

The 16GB iPhone in the uk is £499, that's about $780 but that doesn't mean we find it that expensive (well that's not true) - its the going rate for a top end smart phone, especially when you know you will get more than half back in a years time when you sell it.
Click to expand...

Yup, I did a lengthy discussion of it in one of the MR articles:

colbertnation said:
Umm, not to encourage this discussion to go into this direction further, but I must clarify this one last point.

India is the 4th highest in the number of billionaires (last recorded at 55), only behind the US, China, and Russia. Keep in mind, this official tally was recorded on March 2011 by Forbes. With an economy growing at 8% per quarter and per year (which is now faster than China due to the recent inflation adjustment policies in China), I would be willing to bet more than my house that the number of billionaires in India certainly went up since March.

Also, India's economy on a PPP (Purchasing Power Parity) GDP basis is the 4th richest in the world. When comparing international economies, many economists divert to official exchange rates, but the PPP GDP is much more realistic for comparing domestic value. And at $4 trillion PPP GDP, the Indian economy is actually faring better than all of Europe, and lags very closely behind Japan, and of course China and the US. (Note that these are months old statistics, and with an economy growing this fast, India's PPP GDP might already have surpassed Japan's PPP GDP).

One last thing: high inflation in India. Due to high inflation in India, everyone's wages are spiraling upwards, giving rise to one of the biggest middle class in the world by sheer numbers alone. However, what hasn't changed is the price of the iPhone, presumably due to the favorable exchange rates for Apple.

Add all these things together, and you get a nation that has one of the biggest potential customer bases. That is, if Apple plays its cards right. Of course, the predominant market in India is pre-paid, and the idea of post paid is as alien to them as the idea of pre-paid on Verizon or AT&T is to us. Still, there are tens of millions of Indians who can afford the off-contract iPhone at 40,000 INR (USD 789) due to the above reasons.
Click to expand...
 
Mr.C said:
India isn't the only country where the price is much higher as several posts in this thread have indicated. Here in the UK the 64GB is £699 which is approximately $1050.
Click to expand...

With Apple finally selling off-contract phones in the US, I'm surprised this doesn't create a larger grey market....
 
TuiSong said:
My currency conversion worked it out at $1010! i wonder if the exchange rate did a blip between the times we checked it

to the OP: I don't know what the actual rate was the day I dropped $1349 NZD on my 64gb 4s, but yeah some countries don't have a lot of other choices. Maybe India has gst or vat or some other kind of sales taxes like NZ does. I'm happy with my unlocked iPhone, it will save me a lot of money in the long run since I don't use mobile data much and rarely text or call anyone. I use mine on prepay plans. A $20NZD top up on the phone lasts me over six months, and it will only cost me $10 - $20 NZD a month for my data plan
Click to expand...

Yea it has changed

Edit it's still $1008. I'm using XE app.
 
TuiSong said:
My currency conversion worked it out at $1010! i wonder if the exchange rate did a blip between the times we checked it

to the OP: I don't know what the actual rate was the day I dropped $1349 NZD on my 64gb 4s, but yeah some countries don't have a lot of other choices. Maybe India has gst or vat or some other kind of sales taxes like NZ does. I'm happy with my unlocked iPhone, it will save me a lot of money in the long run since I don't use mobile data much and rarely text or call anyone. I use mine on prepay plans. A $20NZD top up on the phone lasts me over six months, and it will only cost me $10 - $20 NZD a month for my data plan
Click to expand...

Ah, you are quite right. India does have a tax on foreign electronic products, but I am unable to recall the actual %. I want to say though, that it would definitely not be $200 or even in excess of $20, as I know a lot of other electronic goods being sold in India compare well to the same goods being sold here in US.
As India is also a pre-paid market for the most part, I suppose it makes sense for people to drop USD$1000+ and not worry about data plans and such. But jeez, I just can't imagine paying $1000 for a phone up right! I like the idea of slowly paying it out over a data plan (which I heavily use). :)
 
The currency is different of course when the GameCube (that's way back when Nintendo didn't blow the much lol) came out it was 125$ more in my home country I was shock too, but that's how things are, anyways if you consider yourself a heavy smartphone user is worth the money after all is only 3$ at day which is less then what I expend in food for a meal or starbucks , or for some people cigarettes so looking at it the way it makes sense :) you will use the phone more then anything else I know I do :)
 
mkrishnan said:
With Apple finally selling off-contract phones in the US, I'm surprised this doesn't create a larger grey market....
Click to expand...

Well, unfortunately, Apple has found a way around that. They only offer you their iPhone warranty if you use the iPhone in the country you buy it in. So, buying it in the US and taking it to say India for permanent use would void the warranty, and you would not be able to service it there for free.
It sucks :(
 
colbertnation said:
Well, unfortunately, Apple has found a way around that. They only offer you their iPhone warranty if you use the iPhone in the country you buy it in. So, buying it in the US and taking it to say India for permanent use would void the warranty, and you would not be able to service it there for free.
It sucks :(
Click to expand...

Officially that is supposed to be the case. Unofficially there are many reports of people getting their phones repaired/replaced overseas. It is a risk as there is no guarantee Apple will honour the warranty outside the country of origin.
 
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