24 Aug
Why You Should Buy iPhone for Rs.31,000 ($720)
Posted on 2008 under AppStore, Free Apps, Paid Apps, iPhone Duniya, iTunes | 41 Comments
(4 votes, average: 4.75 out of 5)
Loading ...Ok, this might sound a bit weird. But I am going to try to explain why one should be buy iPhone 3G for Rs.31,000 ($720) if he is from India. And why he should no look for reasons to buy iPhone 3G for Rs.8,500 ($199) in the US and bring it to India hoping that it would be unlocked and jailbroken easily. Here is my reasoning..
Before I put it all up, I would like to reiterate that I’m not new to this iPhone world. I had bought the 1st gen iPhone way back in Nov 2007 and have been using the unlocked version right from then. I sold it in June 2008 for Rs.16,000 ($400) expecting that iPhone 3G might be priced less than $200 and I thought, I would then buy it in the US and bring it back to India. Then I bought another one from eBay on 11th July when I realized that iPhone 3G is subsidized only to AT&T customers and its officially going to come to India very soon. And just 3 days back I bought iPhone 3G locked to Airtel India and was amongst the first buy iPhone 3G in Bangalore, India 
, read more. I have been using this awesome awesome 3G version from past 3 days now and I am totally convinced that this iPhone 3G should be bought in India and through Airtel/Vodafone only. And why 31k is justified fully. Let me begin:
- iPhone 3G costs Rs.31,000 ($720) in India. The price is almost the same in any other country where iPhone has been released and is not subsidized by a local Service Provider.
- iPhone 3G is the cheapest in the US @ Rs.8,500 ($199). This is because of one big reason. AT&T has the exclusive right to sell iPhone 3G in the US and one has to commit for a 2 year contract before purchasing iPhone in the US. Now what does this mean, let me explain:
- On an average mobile phone users have to commit for 1 to 2 year contract with a service provider to get mobile instruments at a subsidized rate. This helps the service provider and the instrument maker to recover the cost in splits over a longer time duration.
- On an average, a mobile user will have to pay $40-$60 per month for 2 years minimum, if he buys iPhone 3G from AT&T. Here is the rate plan on AT&T website, read AT&T plans (type 33311 as zip code if asked).
So if we take an average of $40 per month which Rs.1720, it comes to Rs.20640 per year. Here you are paying around Rs.8,500($199) + Rs.20,640($480) = Rs.29,197($679) at the end of first year. And this is not the end of it, you will have to keep paying till you want to use iPhone 3G.
- You must be thinking, why should I commit to pay AT&T for 2 years. I can very well ask my cousin/friend living in the US to buy iPhone @ Rs.8,500($199) and break the AT&T contract and send the iPhone to India. Here is the catch:
- iPhone 3G with 2 yr contract – $199 ($299 for 16GB)
+ $36 – Activation
+ $175 – Early Termination Fee
+ $70 – One month of service - So… 8GB iPhone Canceled: $480
16GB iPhone Canceled: $580
This excludes sales tax on iPhone. So add another $20-$35 more.
Therefore you end up pay ~$520 for 8GIG iPhone 3G which comes to Rs.22,360.
- iPhone 3G with 2 yr contract – $199 ($299 for 16GB)
