After taking the whole world by a storm, the iconic 3G-enabled iPhone from Apple was finally launched for the Indian audiences at midnight on Thursday at glittering functions organized by the two leading mobile operators, Bharti Airtel and Vodafone Essar.
Bharti Airtel and Vodafone have priced the 8 GB phone at Rs 31,000, while the price tag on the 16 GB model is Rs 36,100. This might have put off many potential customers, who were expecting prices to compete with the US offer of USD 199 or roughly Rs 9,000.
Sanjay Kapoor, president-mobile services, Bharti Airtel defends this price proposition saying, "the US price comes with a two-year airtime contract, so it is not fair to compare these rates. We are selling these phones to enhance customer experience, not to make a profit."
He further added saying that, “we are offering an attractive bolt-on data plan, offering free 500 MB a month, for the first 12 months for all iPhone users, besides giving m-check e-commerce service and access to our portal Airtel Live.”
While Airtel claims 200,000 customers registered for the iPhone, Vodafone has reportedly registered half this number. Soon the Apple smartphone will be available in over 50 cities across India.