India’s third-largest mobile operator, Vodafone Essar is set to sell Apple’s iPhone 3G at 31,000 INR ($708) for the 8GB model. The device will be available in shops from Friday. The iPhone 3G with 16 Gigs of memory will sell for 36,100 rupees. The iPhone 3G will work on the existing networks. It will combine three products in one. A feature rich phone, a wide screen iPod and an Internet device with rich HTML along with a desktop class web browser.
It is quite expensive, so one thing for sure that the smart iPhone 3G will not become a mass-market device in India. Globally, the iPhone costs between $199 and $299 depending on the model and specifications. AT&T is offering the 8G-byte model at $199 in the US. So, it seems that at present, the iphone is very expensive. And customers for the iPhone 3G who are not Vadaphone customers will have to first opt for Vodafone mobile service. In addition to this, music and video downloads from Apple’s iTunes music store would not be available to Indian customers.
Via: Unwired-View