Rough ride

Mumbai, Sept. 4: Twelve days after its launch, Apple’s 3G iPhone looks nowhere near capturing the imagination of the country’s gadget lovers.

Sales of the phone have been “a few thousand” since its August 22 rollout, analysts and trade watchers said. Globally, the model has sold over a million units.

Vodafone has now slashed the prices of both the versions by around Rs 1,500. Though the MRP (maximum retail price) is unchanged, the 8GB version is now available for Rs 29,640 and the 16GB for Rs 34,580.

The original price announced by both Airtel and Vodafone was the same — Rs 31,000 for the 8GB version and Rs 36,100 for the 16GB one.

“We are selling the iPhone from our stores and, hence, have been able to pass on the retailer’s margin of Rs 1,500 to customers,” a Vodafone spokesperson said.

Pre-booking queries for the phone had numbered over two lakh.

Bharti Airtel is offering 500MB of download free each month for the first 12 months. Charges after that is 30 paise per 50KB.

“As a service provider, we are simply providing the iPhone experience to our customers. The price of the phone has been fixed in consultation with Apple and there is no room for a profit margin for us,” said a Bharti spokesperson.

“We wish to offer a distinctive user experience for iPhone users and will be offering attractive data plans,” he said. Bharti expects Internet use to go up to 250MB per month from 110MB now.

It has introduced easy finance schemes through a tie-up with the SBI, Citibank, ICICI and HDFC Bank.

Buyers can pay in easy instalments ranging from three months to 24 months — only, there aren’t many takers.

Vodafone has also tied up with HSBC, Citibank, Axis Bank and Barclays for EMI options ranging from three months to 12 months.

“The handset’s high price in India — despite the fact that unlocked iPhones are available in the grey market and the non-availability of 3G services — has taken the sheen off the coveted device,” said an analyst with Angel Broking.