Apple continually courts the Indian market by rolling out new incentive programs that will make it easier for consumers to buy their products. Apple started offers such as smartphone subsidies for students, trade-in discounts and credit card rebates.
Students who want to get an iPhone have the option to trade-in their old mobile phones. This move will get them a discount of 7,777 rupees or $144 for the purchase. Non-students will get an incentive of 7,000 rupees or $130 for a trade-in.
American Express holders in India can also take advantage of a 10 percent cashback offer if they decide to use their card for the purchase of an iPhone. Customers can get a refund of as much as 6,000 rupees or $111 if they buy an iPhone 4, iPhone 4S or an iPhone 5 before June 10.
A customer must use an AmEx credit card issued by a local bank to purchase the iPhone on an installment plan. A report on ZDnet details the offer. Customers can get a rebate of 4,550 rupees or $70 when they purchase a 16-GB iPhone 5 on a six-month installment basis that will require monthly payments of 2,374 rupees or $43. This installment plan requires a down payment of 9,990 rupees or $181.50.
A survey of the market before the end of 2012 revealed that there were only 2.5 million iPhones in India. The recently introduced installment plans and program should push these numbers up this year.
Apple is battling Korean smartphone maker Samsung for the number spot in the smartphone market of India. AppleInsider reported that the creator of iPhone and iPad plans to triple its retail operations in India. At the moment, the company does not maintain its own stores in the country but it plans to have a network of more than 215 resellers in India by 2015.
Samsung also offered a 15 percent cashback program last month to make its gadgets more affordable to the consumers in India.
Apple is trying to find ways to penetrate developing markets that are just starting to join the tablet and smartphone revolution. With the tag price of its devices, it is not easy for the brand to penetrate these regions. The only way is to customize programs to make the products more appealing and affordable to consumers in these fast-growing economies.
