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iPhone launches in India
Apple's 3G iPhone made its debut in India on Friday with a price tag of $700, or about three times the US retail price.
- Agencies
- Published: 12:56 August 22, 2008
- Ajai Puri, Chief Executive Officer of Bharati Telecommunications, poses with an iPhone 3G at an outlet in Calcutta, India.
- Image Credit: AP
New Delhi: Apple's 3G iPhone made its debut in India on Friday with a price tag of $700, or about three times the US retail price.
The launch in New Delhi drew a small crowd, but in Jaipur, the local Maharaja was seen waiting in line.
Smuggled iPhones have been available in the black market in India for months.
"It is seen as a status symbol, an aspirational product, so you can expect to see not just the rich, but also tech-savvy youngsters and people in small towns buying it," said Pinaki Mishra, head of retail & consumer practice at Ernst & Young.
A spokesman for Indian mobile operator Bharati Airtel said the company received more than 200,000 pre-bookings for the new iPhone before prices were announced.
The iPhone was also launched in Singapore on Friday with Singapore Telecommunications Ltd, Southeast Asia's largest telecoms firm, the first to sell it.
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