Apple denies reports of price hike of iPhones in India

Apple has denied reports of hike in prices of iPhones in the country and said that the smartphones were retailing at the same prices as they were introduced

Apple has denied reports of hike in prices of iPhones in the country and said that the smartphones were retailing at the same prices as they were introduced.

Currently, the Cupertino-based firm’s website confirms that retail prices for the 16 GB variants of the iPhone 6s and iPhone 6 are at still at Rs 62,000 and Rs 52,000, respectively.

However, prices on e-commerce sites and retail stores keep fluctuating as consumers are offered discounts to keep sales going in an intensely competitive smartphone market and since the iphone-maker does not control the final prices offered to customers at online or offline retail stores, the same iPhone model is available for different prices at multiple outlets which seems to have created the confusion.

In correlation to the recent report, the online and offline stores have reduced the discounts being offered from January to March which made it seem like the company had hiked prices of the smartphones but Apple has confirmed that it has not sent out any such communication.

The report quoted a source saying that after the revision of prices, the iPhone 6 would cost Rs 40,000 and the 6S would go up for Rs 48,000. He also said that the strategy wan undertaken to drive iPhone SE sales which was not performing well in India.

In order to drive sales, Apple has introduced EMI schemes for consumers purchasing the iPhone SE. It has also targeted the enterprise user with lease plans beginning from Rs 999 a month for iPhone SE, going upwards for iPhone 6 and iPhone 6s.

The report had also suggested that the price of the iPhone 5S would also go up by 22 percent and the phone would start retailing at Rs 22,000 instead of Rs 18,000.