Why the iPhone isn't costly in India?

Apple iPhone costs more than Rs. 30,000 in India so, many people think that the Apple iPhone is cheap in the US market since it costs only USD 200 which is approximately Rs. 10,000. Well, if you're one of them you're probably in the dark. Read on and get enlightened.

The iPhone, till date, is sold in the US exclusively via AT&T -- one of the biggest GSM cell-phone operators there. AT&T does sell iPhones for 200 dollars, but many skip to read the fine line of the compulsory two-year contract. In this contract, one has to opt for a compulsory data plan (for use of 3G internet) priced at USD 30 (Rs. 1,370). This is over and above whatever rental plan you opt for. The minimum talk plan rental is 40 dollars (Rs. 1,827). So, every month an iPhone user in the US has to at least pay 70 dollars on phone bills. This goes on for the next two years. So, if you calculate, every contract-based iPhone user in the US pays at least USD 1680 as part of their phone bills. Now you know why AT&T can sell iPhones for 200 dollars, don't you? That's because they recover the phone's actual cost (maybe more!) over the span of those two years.

AT&T last year apparently started selling contract-free iPhones as well. The 3GS was priced at USD 600 (Approx. Rs. 28,000) Mind you, these are contract-free -- which means that subscribers are not tied to a two-year contract. But they aren't SIM free -- meaning they're still locked to AT&T's network.

Now another problem arises, people get fooled and start buying unlocked phones from US. Though they get it at a low price but they're unaware of the fact that unlocking is often limited to the OS the phone comes with and as soon as you update your phone it gets locked again and the shopkeeper will charge you extra to unlock it again. So you end up paying more than you ever thought. Unlocked phones ultimately become a pain. And yes, they're illegal too.

SO REFRAIN FROM BUYING UNLOCKED iPhones FROM US. However, the iPhone is also sold officially unlocked in many countries. These iPhones are contract-free and can be used with any SIM card in the world. Those countries are: Belgium, Czech Republic, Greece, Italy, Luxembourg, Russia, Turkey, Hong Kong, Macau, Malaysia, New Zealand, Singapore, Taiwan, Thailand, Ecuador, Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates, South Africa.

So, if you have any acquaintance flying to any of these countries, you could ask them to get either the iPhone. Or check if any store in India is selling an iPhone imported from any of these countries. But please do not buy an iPhone from the US and then try to make it work here. You'd might just regret it in the future.

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