News about Apple’s plans of relaunching the 8GB iPhone 4 in India in a bid to boost its sales it not new; however, the price tag with which it will reintroduce the handset in the India market is a matter of constant speculation with latest reports indicating that the handset will cost somewhere between Rs. 22000 and Rs. 23000 (£217 and (£227).
Apple didn’t have a blockbuster 2013 and according to reports the company managed to sell only 1 million iPhones during the year. The sales figures haven’t been that dismal as the company is busy prepping for a celebration to mark $1 billion annual revenue for the first time in India.
Earlier there were reports that Apple will relaunch the 8GB iPhone 4 with a highly competitive price tag of just Rs. 15,000 or £148, but that isn’t a possibility because Apple has never sold a handset for that low a price. TechCrunch reports through its sources that such a strategy is not on the tablet as there is “no way Apple would sell phones that cheap” and dilute its brand name.
TechCrunch pegs the sales price of the smartphone at around Rs. 22,000 (£217), while BGR is claiming through its sources that the handset will be priced at Rs. 22,900 (£226).
None of the prices have been confirmed by Apple, but a sub-£150 price tag would have definitely made a huge difference and give local vendors as well as market leaders like Samsung and Nokia a run for their money. Anything above £200 is not justifiable for the fact that the iPhone 4 is nearly four years old with comparatively low-level specifications. Because of the low-end hardware, Apple is offering a trimmed down version of iOS 7 for the handset.
It is also believed that Apple will be offering the iPhone 4 through various buy-back and EMI schemes to lure more customers.
