Following poor response to the Apple iPhone SE, Apple has revised the prices of iPhones in India. The iPhone 5s, the iPhone 6 and the iPhone 6s now get dearer by up to 29 percent.
In a rather surprise revision, Apple has hiked the prices of iPhones in India. The move comes at the time when the newly launched Apple iPhone SE is being criticized for being overpriced. Ever since the launch earlier this month, the iPhone SE got poor response and Apple only managed to sell a few thousand units, ET reports. Talking about the price hike, Apple iPhone 6 has steeply shot up by 29 percent.
Apple launched the iPhone SE 16GB storage variant for Rs 39,000, whereas the 64GB variant will set you back by Rs 49,000. On the other hand, the 16GB variants of the iPhone 6 and Apple iPhone 6s were available for Rs 31,000 and Rs 40,500, respectively. However, after the price revision, the Apple iPhone 6 16GB will now set you back by Rs 40,000, whereas the iPhone 6s 16GB will set you back by Rs 48,000 or more.
Citing sources, the publication reports that Apple decided to withdraw discounts it offered during the January-March 2016 period. “It was felt that SE, which was criticized for having a ‘high price tag’, will not be able to see much traction if prices of bigger-sized iPhone 6 and 6S devices are not corrected. So, the decision was taken to revise the price upwards. We are trying to build a healthy buffer,” a source told the publication.
BGR India reached out to Reliance Digital and Croma retail, and they have confirmed about the price hike. The Apple iPhone 5s (16GB), the iPhone 6 (16GB) and iPhone 6s (16GB) were priced around Rs 20,500, Rs 34,000 and Rs 45,000, respectively, but after the price revision, they now cost over Rs 25,000, Rs 40,000 and Rs 54,900, respectively.
Apple recently held a meeting with important distributors and top executives after the launch of the iPhone SE. ”The stock of SE was in any case kept at a low level and a strategy is being worked out to pitch the device more effectively. Another problem for SE in India is the small screen size. Indians are increasingly buying larger screen-sized phones, even at the lower-end of the market. A lot of data is consumed on smart devices and smaller ones do not find much favour with buyers,” a source told the publication.
The only worry for Apple is the recently launched Samsung Galaxy S7 and the Galaxy S7 edge, both of which have well received with the critics and the masses. Reports claim that Samsung managed to sell almost two times more devices than the previous generation model since its launch back in March.
To boost the sales of iPhones in India, Apple has also introduced some buyback schemes and financing offers to the users. That’s not all; Apple has also come up with corporate offers and leasing plans to push iPhone sales, where the iPhone SE is available for a monthly EMI of just Rs 999.
Source: bgr.in
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