Prices of older iPhone models hiked by 29% to save Apple SE
23 Apr 2016
In a bid to save the overpriced iPhone SE from the competition from other iPhones, Apple or its dealers, have hiked the prices of older models of iPhones in India by up to 29 per cent in one go.
The move comes at the time when the newly launched Apple iPhone SE is being criticised for being overpriced. Ever since the launch earlier this month, the iPhone SE got poor response and Apple only managed to sell a few thousand units, The Economic Times reports. The price of Apple iPhone 6 has shot up steeply by 29 per cent.
Dealers have raised prices of the older iPhones in India the last one week, reportedly because people are buying the iPhone 6 and the iPhone 6S that are comparatively better priced than the recently-launched iPhone SE.
Retailers seem to have realised that given that there is an exclusive market for the iPhones, the best way to save the iPhone SE and its valuation was to hike prices across iPhone models.
Apple managed to sell only a few thousand units of the SE in India, possibly due to its high pricing, say reports.
Apple, however, denied raising the prices of the iPhones in India. The company says the prices remain what they were during the launch of these iPhones. But the company did not deny the possibility of a price correction.
The older iPhones might have been selling at significantly lower than their MRPs. It is possible that their prices are now closer to MRPs, with reduced discount.
Apple has priced the iPhone SE base 16GB variant at Rs39,000 in India. But until last week the iPhone 6 16GB could be purchased for as low as Rs31,000 and iPhone 6S (base model) was selling for around Rs40,500.
"After the revision, iPhone 6 costs Rs40,000 and 6S comes for Rs48,000. We are trying to build a healthy buffer," the report quoted source as saying.
"It was felt that SE, which was criticised for having a 'high price tag', will not be able to see much traction if prices of bigger-sized iPhone 6 and 6S devices are not corrected. So, the decision was taken to revise the price upwards," the report quotes a source as saying.
