iPhone 3G is already launched in India and there are some reasons why it is not worthy of purchasing. Some of the reasons are given below.
Disclaimer : This write-up is intended for our Indian readership only and all the reasons have been listed taking the indian market into consideration.
iPhone3G has certainly redefined the meaning of the term “phone” in many ways.From 3.5 inches widescreen experience to seamless web browsing,from superb GPS navigation to endless apps for numerous purposes,the features are just too much to explain.iPhone3G lets you use it for surfing, email, blogging,video conferencing,live videocasting and much more…and the best part is its price,which is just $199.
Sounds superb BUT not for Indians at all…
As Indians couldn’t be neglected anymore (because of a growing economy and consequently the buying capacity of Indians),Vodafone and Airtel,the two Indian telecom giants decided to bring the much-awaited iPhone 3G to India.
They rolled out advertisements on TV & newspapers to announce their plans of launching iPhone3G in India (with no mention of any date) and persuaded Indian consumers to book an iPhone for themselves(for free,by just filling out a form).This was mainly to analyze the expected market for iPhone3G in India.
They received an overwhelming response with this act and went further to finally launch it on Aug 22,2008.Since that day, all the iPhone 3G hype that was created has been literally busted and the Indian masses (we mean, the iPhone crazy guys) are looking to drop their plans to buy an iPhone3G,at least for now…
And here are the five reasons that justify such a market response and probable iPhone 3G failure in India…
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Pricing
An iPhone3G(8 GB) in US costs $199(Rs.8,860) and the same handset costs $696(Rs.31,000) in India.For 16 GB,its $299 in US and $808(Rs.36,000) in India.
According to us,Airtel and Vodafone possibly forgot to remember the current exchange rates.They probably assumed Rs.1 = $44.One can have a decent configuration laptop within such a price range.
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Data plans
The monthly data plan for iPhone 3G ranges from Rs 500 to Rs 1000 depending on one’s internet usage.The cheapest plan gets you with 50 MB of free data usage while the costliest plan(Rs.1000) leaves you with 600 MB of free data usage.
There are no “unlimited data” plan as of now and every 1 MB extra (after free usage) will cost you Rs.5 or so.
According to us,they(the two telecom giants) completely misread the Indian market , assuming that such cost plans will be accepted by Indian consumers.
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Better options
When there are options such as the HTC Touch Diamond (Rs.27, 000) and Blackberry (Rs.23, 000) in the market which offer equivalent or rather better features and data plan options then iPhon3G has definitely wait at the moment.
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No 3G support
The biggest draw in this iPhone installment was 3G support which is just not possible in India right now.Although,3G is on its way to reach Indian market by mid 2009,it won’t be feasible for Indian consumers to use 3G services effectively at least for the next 3 years because of ultra expensive usage rates(rewind back a decade ago when mobile phones used to be a status symbol in India and calling rates were just too high to afford for a common Indian consumer, because the mobile services were new and competition was much less.The same will happen in case of 3G services).
And by that time(after 3 yrs, when 3G becomes affordable) the next iPhone installment would be ready to replace the previous one.
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App Store ?
One of the major draws of iPhone3G was also the useful apps and specific app stores that are available for a US consumer but should one expect an iPhone app store in India ? Just forget it…
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The above reasons justify enough NOT to buy an iPhone3G (for those Indians who are looking to buy it, if there are any) and go for any other option but iPhone3G.
According to us, Indian telecom giants have rather let down the “iPhone reputation” by making such a hopeless debut of a par-excellence product.
