Apple offers buy-back of Rs34,000 on new iPhones

In a first, Apple is offering a discount on its latest iPhones less than a month of its launch, with the Cupertino-based company initiating a buyback offer on iPhone 6S and 6S Plus, giving consumers discount of up to Rs 34,000 to trade in their old models.

Apple and its distributors are going to buy back old models under the scheme to ensure that all new phones sold are genuine and reduce the burden of the retailer who can push sales further.

The iPhone 6s and 6s Plus were launched last month in India at Rs62,000-Rs 92,000 depending on memory and model, but sales were down 15-20 per cent over last year as iPhone 6 and 6Plus which were cheaper by Rs8,500-9,000.

Ingram Micro, one of the Apple's four iPhone distributors, has just rolled out the buyback scheme in a handful of Apple stores and multi-brand cellphone retail chains in South India which will be subsequently taken national.

The other three distributors will also follow suit since the US company wants to achieve its target of trebling sales during the October-December quarter over last year.

Reports say that the company has informed the trade that it will also buy back select high-end handsets of rival Samsung. Apple has also created a separate website where retailers have to upload details of old handsets against which new models will be bought.

The buyback offer comes at a time when the latest iPhones are getting sold at 7-11 per cent discount since last week in ecommerce marketplaces such as Flipkart, Snapdeal and Amazon.