The premium segment phone maker Apple has raised prices of its top iPhone models by 2-3.6%, except for iPhone SE which Apple Inc. assembles in India. This hike was witnessed as the result of the increased import duty on mobile phones by five percentage points in the Union Budget last week.
As per the latest updates, the company confirmed the change in prices, which are reflected on its website as well.
Now, talking about the hike, the starting price of an iPhone 6 is up by Rs1,120 to Rs31,900 and the most expensive iPhone X is dearer by Rs3,210 and will cost Rs1.08 lakh.While, the cheapest iPhone 8 will now cost Rs67,940 instead of Rs66,120, a total rise of Rs1820.
The government is trying to boost local manufacturing and employment, in an attempt to do so the government last week also increased customs duty on mobile phones from 15% to 29%. The government hopes that this step will give local manufacturers an edge over imports and will raise custom duty collections.
“I propose the hike in customs duty on mobile phones from 15% to 20%, on some of their parts and accessories to 15% and on certain parts of TVs to 15%. This initiative will promote the creation of more jobs in the country.” – the finance minister, Arun Jaitley added in his budget speech.
It is to be noted that in the month of December itself, the government had raised customs duty on handsets from 10% to 15%. At that time also, the prices of top iPhone models had been increased by an average of 3.5%, except for iPhone SE.
Although most of the phones sold in India are made by local manufacturers but the latest customs duty hike is expected to show some impact on the feature phone segment where devices are shipped from China.
“In terms of volume, now, 81% of the phones sold in India are made locally, and we expect this number to cross 90% in the coming year. Ultimately, in the future, we expect all handsets sold in India will be made here itself !” – Pankaj Mohindroo, president of the Indian Cellular Association, added.
It has been seen that Apple is seeking incentives from the Indian government to expand manufacturing base in the country, which in terms of stats is one of the fastest growing markets.
Apple’s in-office CEO Tim Cook, in a post-earnings conference call with investors in the month of November 2017, had highlighted that the total revenue from emerging markets outside of greater China was up by 40%, with potential momentum prospects seen in India, where revenue doubled year over year.
“I feel like we’re making good progress there and are gaining knowledge of the market trends, but we still have a long way to go, which I sort of see as an opportunity instead of a problem in the future. And I do feel great about the growth rate. And so that’s India !” – Cook had then said.
Let’s see how buyers react to this hike!