Apple's iPhone 5s, 5c in India on 1 Nov: How much will it cost?

Apple announced on Wednesday that the iPhone 5s and iPhone 5c will go on sale in India from 1 November, right in time for the Diwali season. India is part of Apple’s third phase of launches. In its announcement, Apple also confirmed that the iPhone 5s and iPhone 5c would be available in Italy, Russia, Spain and more than 25 additional countries a week before that on 25 Friday, October. This is perhaps the first time that Apple has announced the India release date much ahead of the official launch. Last year, the launch of iPhone 5 saw various dates being circulated, but the phone was eventually launched on 2 November, a little after the date of the original predictions. As far as the launch of the iPhone 5s and 5c is concerned, the biggest question on everyone’s mind is what the price could be. When it comes to the iPhone 5s most are expecting the phone to be priced above the Rs 50,000 range. Given that the latest Galaxy Note 3 was priced at Rs 49,990, followed by the Nokia Lumia 1020 also being priced at the same rate, there’s no doubt that premium smartphones in India are back to the Rs 50,000 price slot. [caption id=“attachment_1166055” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] Apple’s iPhone 5s is seen in this file photo. Reuters[/caption] Where the iPhone 5c is concerned, don’t expect the smartphone to be priced under Rs 25,000. The iPhone 5c is replacing the iPhone 5, which was a premium-level phone and while it may have a plastic polycarbonate shell don’t expect Apple to price it cheap. “Price point of iPhone 5c could be in the range of Rs 30,000-35,000, which will not be seen as a low-end product. Apple will have to calibrate the Indian market carefully for its launch,” IDC India country head Jaideep Mehta had told _PTI_ when the iPhone 5s and 5c were launched in September. But Apple’s new iPhone 5c is at best going to be a mid-range phone. It’s clear that Apple is definitely not catering to the sub $100 price-point which many analysts believe is going to be the key in growing markets like India and China. The unlocked 16GB version of the iPhone 5c is $549 (about Rs 34,700) in the US, while the model in China is priced at $729 (about Rs 46,000). So if you were dreaming of a cheap, colourful iPhone, you should forget about that. According to our sister site Tech2, market sources said that the 16GB version of the iPhone 5c is being sold within the range of Rs 38,000 to Rs 40,000, while 5s is priced at a much higher Rs 55,000, for the 16GB variant in the Indian grey market. The 32GB variant is priced at Rs 61,000. The iPhone 5s is also available on ebay.in starting at Rs 54,000 with price ranging upto a Rs One lakh and more for a 16 GB unlocked model. It does seem like a ludicrously high price to pay for a phone that will be out in India soon. For now, it would seem wise to wait till 1 November for the iPhone release.