Can I ever buy an iPhone (3G or 3GS) at a decent price in India?

Apple has announced the new iPhone which is named as iPhone 3GS, where the ‘S’ denotes speed. Features look promising. You can watch the guided tour video from Apple describing all  the new features.

Main Features

• New 3 MP camera with touch focus and VGA (640 x 480) video recording.
• Faster – Apple claims, it is up to two times faster.
• Improved battery life
• Compass
• Voice commanding
• The new iphone OS 3.0 with support for copy & paste
• More memory (16 GB & 32 GB)

Disappointments

• Still, no FM radio
• No bluetooth file transfer
• No change in looks

Availability in India & Pricing

In US, it is priced as $199 for 16 GB and $299 for 32 GB with a 2 years contract from AT & T and the phone will be available from June 19.

It is expecting to hit Indian markets by August. Pricing ? No idea. The prices were always a problem in India. The iPhone 3G was selling at a price of around 30,000 by both Airtel & Vodafone. Also heard that BSNL is also going to sell iPhones, but couldn’t find any further details. The 30, 000 price tag was too much for the device and sales were low.

What is a decent price?

I have bought the 8GB iPod Touch for around 12K from Dubai. Now what extras are the iPhone 3G offer at a price of 30, 000 Rs? An average phone + an average 2MP camera which do not support video recording unless you jail break (which is illegal and voids the warranty) +  average GPS functionality and the price is 2.5 times higher. You can buy a decent phone with all the above features and the iPod for a price of around 25 K. So the only feasible way to own an iPhone was to buy a cracked 1st generation iPhone which does not have GPS or 3G (3G is useless in India as it is still in experimental stage). Those are available in 13K – 20 K range and at what price you’ll get it depends on how much luck you have.

It would’ve been a must buy device if it was priced in the 18 K – 20 K range. Even at 22K it would’ve been a decent buy. But 30 K is not acceptable at all.

I am not sure whether the pricing will change after the release of iPhone 3GS. I don’t mind buying the new iPhone 3GS  at a price range of 25K to 27K considering the number of applications it has (20, 000 plus)  and the new features like 3MP camera, video recording etc. For the current iPhone 3G, 20K-22K Rs is a decent price tag.

Can I ever buy this at a decent price? Hoping for the best. Otherwise, my choise will be Samsung Omnia HD. The price will be much higher but what you’ll get is a 3.7” touch screen, HD video recording, 8MP still camera. You may check the full features at GSM arena

You may check the following links for getting more details on iPhone 3GS

• full features – GSM arena
• Apple site
• Engadget

Related posts:

1. Manufacturing cost of iPhone 3G S and the price of iPhone 3G in India
2. Iphone OS 3.0 launched yesterday, Bluetooth enabled in Ipod Touch, IPhone 3GS due tomorrow
3. Apple Ipod Touch
4. Iphone 3GS – More hidden than revealed?
5. Iphone disappointments