Airtel Also Comes To Disribute Iphone In India

A big fight is set to begin in India between Vodafone and Airtel. Before the battle starts, Vodafone has already won one point. Now the rumor suggests that Airtel will equal-up.
Speculations say that Apple is planning to sign an agreement with Bharti Airtel to launch iPhone in the country. The revolutionary handset is slated to be available by October.

According to the company’s representative, “Bharti Airtel has signed a deal with Apple to bring iPhone to India later this year.” When we contacted Airtel, they declined to comment on any existing speculations. We need to term this news as a rumor until an official announcement is made.

The Airtel news came into existence when Apple joined hands with SingTel to launch the iPhone in the Asia-Pacific region via four telecom operators that includes Bharti Airtel, SingTel, Globe Telecom and Optus. As SingTel has a stake in Bharti Airtel, the iPhone is said to be made available on the Airtel network in India. Similarly, SingTel will sell the gadget in Singapore, Glove Telecom in the Philippines and Optus in Australia.

If this news is sheer true and Apple is changing its strategy from exclusive carrier concept to dual carrier concept, Indian owners won’t have to worry much about the locked version of the iPhone and change their existing cell phone number.

The phone is expected to cost Rs. 23,000. At present, the unlocked version retails for Rs. 26,000. The next question that arises is that whether the Indian launch will be that of a 2.5G iPhone followed by the 3G version, or will it directly be the 3G version that would enter the Indian subcontinent.

Iphone Comes In India Via Vodafone

Vodafone must be on Cloud 9 as it has received the contract from Apple to distribute the iPhone in 10 countries across the globe. So, the nations that will be happy to receive the revolutionary mobile phone are Australia, the Czech Republic, Egypt, Greece, Italy, India, Portugal, New Zealand, South Africa and Turkey. The agreement is slated to begin later this year.
After losing over O2 and Carphone Warehouse for UK access, Vodafone will certainly breathe a sign of relief as it has achieved a huge contract to expand its profit margins.

Probably, the iPhone in Australia would be operator free. At present, there aren’t many details known in regards to the Australian launch. In the recent past, there was news stating that Apple’s media player-cum-mobile phone’s exclusive agreement could be considered as illegal in Australia.

Reasons Behind iphone wont hit India

Apple iPhone is creating waves across the globe and the Time magazine has named the iphone as the invention of the year of 2007 No doubt that iPhone is a great device , Its a revolutionary phone - much more than a phone But the sad part is that the iPhone has not come to India so far. Its available in the Grey markets for under Rs.30,000 but without warranty. Anyone buying it / already bought it ? I wanted to highlight why the iPhone wont be coming soon to India.

Users dont spend much on Value Added Services

I was just comparing the various mobile markets in the world where the iPhone has been introduced - USA, UK,Germany and France. These markets are places where purchasing power is more. In this context Im referring to the amount of cash the users burn on their mobile phones and related services such as ringtones,songs etc. We Indians spend a lot on phones for sure but mainly for calls and messages nothing more.

Operator Revenue Sharing wont work in India

Apple wants a cut of the revenue the operators make out of an iPhone user. This might not not work at all in a country like India where there are so many operators.

Texting or SMS is the hottest mobile thing in India

SMS is the hottest mobile service in india and the iphone sux at it and atleast when I tried the iPhone i was not comfortable with the touchscreen keypad. I will be far more comfortable typing on a Nokia 1100 or a Motorola lowend phone.
Mobile Web is not big in India but its Growing

Mobile web usage is still minimum in India. We are running a poll on mobile internet usage in India. Surprisingly 45 of the 69 voters claim to use the internet on the mobile phones. Might we get really advanced mobile users as visitors to FoneArena. But the ground reality is that mobile internet usage is still small compared to PC internet usage.iPhone Web Apps is a totally new area and mobile internet is the backbone for these iphone apps which are heavily data driven.If Apple can force the Operators like Airtel and Vodafone to bring out unlimited GPRS plans then things might change.

Locked Handset model wont work in India

Its pretty common in the USA for AT&T to release the latest mobile phone locked to its network. But I doubt whether this model will work in india. As a mobile user I want to have the freedom to change my operator / cell company as I wish. Think I change my house and Airtel has poor coverage in that area and BSNL has better coverage. I dont want to change my handset for a change for a phone number change.

Apple wants to remain a niche / Luxury brand ?

This is an open ended question. Considering the iPhone comes to India and is priced at say around 16000 rupees . How many of us will buy it ? I would say most of you reading this post will want to own a iPhone then. This means Apple is loosing its status of being a Luxury brand. If you are the guy or gal who wants to stand out from the crowd, then the iphone might not be for you - Everyone has it , whats so cool .. ill find another phone

Bluetooth File Transfers won’t work

Bluetooth file transfers are very popular in India,atleast amongst youth. iPhone does not let you share files over Bluetooth. Its got bluetooth but only for pairing with a Bluetooth Headset.

TouchScreen phones are still not popular

In a country where SMSing is so hot , touchscreen-only phones wont sell like hot cakes. HTC Touch has had some good sales, but generally users are not comfortable with touchscreen-only phones. HTC Touch Dual with a additional keypad is coming soon.But still the touch interface of the iPhone is cool but takes sometime to get used to.

No Video Recording

Video recording on a mobile phone is so much fun. The phone does have a camera but no video recording.Are you listening apple ?

Too Much Competition and lack of presence

Theres so much competition among mobile handset brands in India. So many new players are also entering the market.Nokia retains the no.1 spot in India other brands are having a tough time tackling Nokia’s continuous rise in market share. But Apple just ate Windows mobile market share in the USA. But USA is a different story. Apple has very few stores here in India and has remained a luxury brand only affordable by the rich so far.