Apple iPhone sales nearing 400,000 units per month on new schemes

Apple's iPhone sales in India are approaching 400,000 units per month, an increase of 300 to 400 per cent over the last few months, reports citing Credit Suisse's research note to clients said. Equated monthly installments (EMI) and cash-back schemes are being credited for the soaring sales.

Before the introduction of the EMI schemes four months back, iPhone sales were hovering around 70,000-80,000 per month. According to the research note, iPhone sales were nearing 400,000 units per month in India - that is nearly 3 per cent share of handset sales for a single top-end product in a market that had long been dominated by low-end feature phones.

Given the fact that in India, which is the world's second most-populous nation after China with a huge handset market, people do not go for the high-end phones, Apple's achievement was really remarkable.

"The 4-9 per cent implicit discount coupled with the option of easy EMIs spread over 6-12 months became popular," Tirumalai said. "Within a few months, our discussions with handset retailers indicated that iPhone sales went up 3-4 times, forcing companies to respond."

Under Apple's EMI scheme for iPhone 4 and 4S models, buyers can make partial payment for iPhone 4 and 4S models upfront and payment of the rest of the amount in installments over 6 to 12 months with no interest.

Meanwhile, a trade panel specialising in patent cases would reconsider a split decision in a long-running patent battle between Apple Inc and Samsung group.

According to the International Trade Commission (ITC), it would take a second look at an ITC judge's decision of Samsung having infringed on an Apple patent for a text-selection feature in its smart phones and tablets.

It would also look at the judge's decision, made in March, that the South Korean company, supplying a number of Apple chips, did not infringe a second patent that detected if a microphone or other device was plugged into its microphone jack.

A final decision would fall due on 1 August.

The ITC had emerged as a popular venue for patent battles as it could ban imported goods from the US if they were found to infringe patents.

The iPhone maker had filed a complaint in mid-2011, accusing Samsung of infringing its patents in making its Galaxy, Transform and Nexus mobile devices, among others.

The case has been registered (No.337-796) with the International Trade Commission.