iPhone 5 is eagerly awaited in the country and is already available in the grey market at sky-high prices, touching over Rs 1 lac. It is the fastest selling smartphone of all time, with 5 million units sold over the first weekend itself. With this device, Apple broke its mould of 3.5-inch screens and ventured into the 4-inch screen size domain and introduced the all-new Lightning dock connector and EarPods.
In India, iPhones have commanded top dollar and are out of reach of the masses, one of the main reasons for the meager market share of Apple's phone in India as compared to Android phones. Last year, the base variant of iPhone 4S was launched at Rs 44,500 in the country and currently costs Rs 41,500 after the recent price revision. In contrast, no Android smartphone in India currently costs above Rs 40,000, though it must be remembered that Samsung Galaxy S III was priced around Rs 43,000 at the time of launch. However, the company soon brought the official price of the device down to Rs 38,900 and currently the phone costs Rs 35,500 on the company's e-store.
Recently, when Apple slashed prices of its phones in India, the iPhone 4 was given a price tag of Rs 28,300, which is quite high considering that it is two years old.
Apple has been making efforts to penetrate the Chinese market, but seems to largely ignore India's potential. On the other hand, Samsung, the arch rival of Apple in the smartphone domain,has already made inroads into India and is perched right at the top of the smartphone market in the country. India has become one of the biggest markets for the South Korean company's mobile division.
Nevertheless, things seem to be changing for India, as Apple looks set to bring its latest offering to the country within a short span of its worldwide launch, especially considering that the first iPhone was never launched here.
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