The 2013 iPhone 5S will be soon sold for around Rs 15,000 as a part of an online only retailing strategy to compete against Chinese handset manufacturers, claims an ET report. Currently, iPhone 5S sells for around Rs 18,000 and takes up about 20 percent of total iPhone shipments in India. iPhone 5S has, perhaps, been the most sold iPhone in India and is still a hot buy for a lot of those who are looking to buy a new smartphone in the mid-range category.
Senior executives from Apple have already informed offline retail stores about no future stocks for iPhone 5S and the company is trying to ease out the device in the coming months. As of now, about 50-55 percent of iPhone sales happen online. Following, this, Apple plans to fit in iPhone SE in the shoes of iPhone 5S and the former now sells for around Rs 20,000 for the 16GB variant.
Previously, Apple was planning to bring refurbished iPhones to India to capture the low mid-range segment but the company now seems to have shifted its focus to older iPhones which still has a lot of credibility in a country like India.
While iPhone 5S or even the iPhone SE might look inferior to other Android smartphones, in terms of specifications, however, that is not for what people buy an Apple device in India. Apple has a certain brand value in India and that it probably the biggest drive force for it to grab crucial and new customers every time it launches a new device. Secondly, the face value of an Apple device is far better than any other smartphones selling in the country.
Discounting the iPhone 5S to Rs 15,000 will mean that Apple will enter the league of Xiaomi. Lenovo, Motorola, Oppo and even Samsung and it will be interesting to see if customers still prefer iPhone 5S over the other similarly priced android smartphones with much better specifications. But then, iPhones doesn’t generally require those kinds of specifications. Still – Will you buy iPhone 5S at Rs 15,000? – let us know in the comment section.