Well, it had to happen, I had expected the same fate of iPhone launch in India since the day they announced the price for 8GB model as 31,000 & 16GB model as 36,000! Indian consumers were prepared and were willing to pay premium for a premium product like iPhone but premium as high as 4 times than its price in US? Isn’t it too high esp. when most of the consumers have easy access to US market these days? As I anticipated, the launch of iPhone in India on 22nd Aug’08 in a mid-night launch event didn’t receive onlookers in as high number as US or other countries. The launch event went quite lackluster and even if bunch of people visited the event, the actual conversion number i.e., people buying it first day itself was quite low as against any other country.
Last year when iPhone was launched in US, it was the talk of the town and media was splashed across globally with the launch details and sales volume of iPhone in 1st day itself. Then what went wrong majorly in case of Indian launch? As reported in ET today, “the snazzy gizmo failed to draw crowds to the stores of Bharti Airtel and Vodafone Essar in sharp contrast to the international markets where iPhone lovers had queued up the whole night to buy the handset. The mood was subdued at the midnight launch of iPhone at Mumbai’s Infiniti Mall with Friday being a working day. The stage was set for a grand launch, complete with confetti and cheerleaders, but at the stroke of midnight, there were just 10 people who actually bought the high-end device. At a Vodafone store in Connaught Place, Central Delhi, journalists outnumbered customers by a huge margin. Only about 15 customers turned up to buy the phone. The Airtel retail store nearby wore a deserted look on Friday afternoon, with not a single customer buying the iPhone. In Gurgaon, Airtel unveiled the iPhone at Sahara Mall. Despite the frenzy, the D-day did not quite match the expectations with just about 35-40 people lining up to buy the coveted smartphone.
Infact a day after the launch also, I don’t think there has been any noticeable upsurge in the sales volume in any of the cities. I remember reading it somewhere that more than 2 lakh people had registered on Airtel website as prospective buyers for iPhone. 2 lakh only on Airtel website! Then what would have been the overall size of the prospective buyers in India? But looks like such a high pricing has dampened the spirits of most of the Indian consumers who were eagerly awaiting this Apple product in India. I know of many people personally who were initially waiting for this phone but now have decided to settle for some other set stating that 31k for 8GB phone is just too high! Well, as of now it looks like iPhone has gone majorly wrong in its launch pricing strategy in India. But nothing can be concluded so soon, let’s wait and watch if service providers will bring down the prices to capture the mass or keep it at the same price to target the niche!
Iya
app idhar bhi???
coming to iPhone – its sooo expensive.. no point of honesty u see..i waited patiently to get one in India…and this is what they do… all my friends who bought one from US are now having the last laugh..
on a serious note, i dont believe this is a sustainable pricing…people will continue buying it in the cheaper markets and breaking the code…
tanvi
though me not a part of this sector, but i knew tht the iphone is a doomed venture like the expensive apple ipod launched sometime back..my hubby owns an iphone n for me its nothing but a show piece! much ado about nothing!
ur blog is tooooooooo good! makes me proud 🙂
Kanupriya
@Iya: Yup, I post my marketing / internet industry related posts here apart from my personal blog. Agreed! Lets see when iPhone prices will come down in India.
@Tanvi: Thanks! Lets wait for the future of this product in India
Rajdeep
Apple will soon realize that India is about volume game and prices have to be slashed if they want their product to be hit in India.
Indian consumers are price sensitive and this is what is strongly coming out from this debate also….
http://toostep.com/debate/do_you_think_the_iphone_will_be_a_hit_in_india_