Bharti Airtel to launch iPhone 4 by October
19 Jul 2010
Bharti Airtel Ltd, India's largest telecom operator by subscribers, expects to launch Apple Inc's iPhone 4 in India either in September or October. "We are working with Apple. Hopefully we will launch it in the September, October timeframe," chief executive officer Sanjay Kapoor told reporters on the sidelines of a CII conference in New Delhi.
In June, Vodafone Essar Ltd, the Indian unit of the UK's Vodafone Group Plc, also said it plans to launch the iPhone 4 in India. The company didn't mention a timeframe, but reports say the company will launch iPhone 4 in India in September.
Bharti Airtel already sells the iPhone 3GS in India priced at Rs35,500 for the 16GB model and Rs41,500 for the 32GB model.
With the launch of third generation mobile services in the country expected by the end of this year, the sale of such high end devices are likely to get a boost.
US-based Apple Inc, the inventor of iPods, iPhones and iPads, had last month announced the launch of the iPhone 4 with a sharper screen and video-chat features in an attempt to ward-off competition from devices running Google's Android software.
Complaints of poor receptivity in the device, attributed to its wrap-around antenna design, have failed to seriously dampen sales, although the company's share prices fell appreciably after the reports. Apple is now distributing free plastic covers to iPhone 4 owners, which is supposed to rectify the problem.
The iPhone has emerged as Apple's top product, overtaking its Macintosh computer and iPod music player.
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