Get the iPhone 3G for Rs 31,000 from Vodaphone.. or not..

Posted on August 20, 2008 by Shyam Kumar

That’s the price for the 8 GB model, and for only the hardware.

That’s what the e-mail from Vodafone to Amit at Digital Inspiration says.

They’ve priced the 8GB model for Rs 31,000 ($710) and the 16GB one for Rs 36,100 ($820) respectively.

For the 3G Voice and Data plans:

“Vodafone offers no “unlimited data” plan for iPhone users. That means if you exhaust your monthly data usage, be prepared to shell out an extra Rs 5 per MB of data exchanged.

The monthly rent for iPhone will range from Rs 500 to Rs 1000 depending on your Internet requirements. The lower plan will provide you with 50 MB of free data usage while the upper 1000 plan provides 600 MB of data usage.

This above plans are for postpaid customers. If you want to go for a prepaid iPhone connection, there’s a special data card that is available for a monthly rent of Rs 100 but provides no free data usage.

The SMS and local / STD call charges on iPhone will more or less be the same as existing tariffs offered by Vodafone.

Let’s do some maths. If you are heavy web user, the overall cost would work something like this – Rs 36000 (for handset) + Rs 12000 (yearly rent) + Call Charges + Extra data charges + Taxes.”

I doubt Airtel’s pricing would be much different, so if you go by WATBlog’s analysis of a good price for the iPhone, it’s about 50% costlier than their valuation of Rs 21000.

But my guess is, as happens often in India, there will be people willing to pay this price, and when that customer base is squeezed enough, the prices will come down. Or maybe that’s just the hope speaking. :)

I love the iPhone and the AppStore, but am not buying, not now atleast.

Filed under: News to know | Tagged: , , ,

« »

2 Responses

  1. Hitesh verma, on September 1st, 2008 at 4:13 pm Said:

    Hi all,

    After observing all of your comments, I am not denying your point. But should see other side of coin also. The other markets which are available with the same features or similar features were/are also priced very high. Eg Nokia E 90 @ >Rs.30000/- Nokia N 95 .Rs.25000, HTC Touch diamond @ Rs.27500/-, Samsung Omania @ Rs. 35 K plus, BlackBerry 8820 @32000.

    So, as a whole if somebody who is targeting for this budget, it does not seem high when you buy a product from Apple. I have very good image of Apple in my mind.

    Hope to listen from other netizens.

    Thanks
    Hitesh

  2. Shyam Kumar, on September 2nd, 2008 at 3:33 pm Said:

    Hitesh,

    You are absolutely right, there’s no shortage of cellphones in that range and no lack of willing buyers either.

    Inspite of being an Apple evangelist and consumer, I just happen to be one of the many who feel the iPhone is overpriced, (and it’s probably Apple playing the scarcity card), and am willing to wait till the price drops down to a reasonable one, if at all.

    As Newton once said, “I have predicted the movement of heavenly bodies but I cannot predict the madness of man in markets.”

Leave a Reply