IBM to sell iPads, iPhones on installments

Apple iPads and iPhones with will soon be available on monthly installments as IBM starts sales of the devices to enterprises in India along with its own software bundle, The Economic Times reported.

IBM vice president Will Duckworth told ET that under the arrangement with Apple, IBM can resell all existing Apple mobile devices, activate them and deploy and support them for two to three years.

He added, customers could pay per year or per month - so there would be no capital cost for the customer. According to analysts the strategy could help Apple regain market share in India.

According to Kiran Kumar, research manager, client devices at IDC India, the  partnership would enable Apple to make a strong bid to enterprise users.

He added, with software and hardware cost bundled with easy payment options, Apple products could become attractive to small and mid-size businesses too. This could potentially help Apple build market share on the rising commercial tablet business in India.

Last week Apple and IBM unveiled the first 10 of some 150 apps that IBM was developing on the Apple platform. According to Duckworth, these apps, jointly developed by IBM India Labs and centres in the US, Canada and Australia, were also being tested with a few customers in India.

In order to attract price-sensitive Indian customers, IBM will resell all iOS devices Apple still sells in India, including iPhone 4S, which are available for less than Rs 20,000. Such older devices have been discontinued in markets such as the US and Europe.