Bharti Airtel and Aircel announced the availability of
Apple iPhone 4S at Rs 44,500 in India which is higher than its US retail cost.

 

While Apple iPhone 4S (16GB) is available in India at Rs
44,500, the U.S. retailers are selling the product at Rs 33,000 and it is
available in the U.K. at Rs 40,300.

 

Local taxes and import duties, depreciation of the rupee
against the dollar are the main reasons for the high prices.

 

According to Airtel website, iPhone 4S (16 GB) will be
priced Rs 44,500, 32GB will cost Rs 50,900 and 64GB will be available at Rs
57,500.

 

The retail price of iPhone 4S in Hong Kong us HK$ 5,088
(Rs 33,000), and in the U.K. it costs 499 pounds (Rs 40,300).

 

Samsung, the main competitor in the smart phone space,
has a different pricing strategy since it leverages its manufacturing
facilities in Asia. Samsung Galaxy S2 is cost effective in India as compared to
the U.S.

 

In India, Apple does not feature in top 3 smart phone
market list. Nokia leads the smartphone shipments in India followed by Samsung,
according to IDC.

 

Nokia holds 45.8 percent market share in smartphone
shipments, followed by Samsung’s 21 percent. Research in Motion has a 15
percent market share. The top 3 manufacturers together have an 81.9 percent
market share, leaving 18 percent to Apple, LG, Motorola and Sony Ericsson and
others. A total of 2.4 million smartphones are shipped to India in Q2 2011.

 

During Q3 2011, Samsung has overtaken Apple to lead the
smartphone shipments globally. Samsung smartphone shipments reached 27.8
million. By comparison, Apple shipments during the period were 17.1 million.

 

Strategy Analytics estimated
that global shipments of smartphones for the first nine months of the year
reached 117 million, a 44 percent jump over the same period last year.

 

Apple’s global smartphone growth rate slowed to just 21 percent
annually in this year’s third quarter, its lowest level in two years. Factors
contributing to that growth slowdown included operators awaiting the launch of
the new iPhone 4S in the fourth quarter, volatile economic conditions in
several key countries and tougher competition from Samsung’s popular Galaxy S
II model.

 

Samsung is currently the world’s leading superphone
vendor due to the success of its Android-powered Galaxy S2 model. Samsung is
leveraging this leadership to attack rivals with much weaker superphone
portfolios such as Nokia, Blackberry and even Apple, according
to Strategy Analytics.

 

In July 2011, Samsung Electronics announced
that the Samsung GALAXY S II has reached global channel sales of 3 million
units. The GALAXY S II is Samsung’s flagship smartphone device available on
Android, the world’s fastest-growing mobile operating system.

 

By Telecomlead.com Team
[email protected]