Apple India is planning to sell the new iPhone 5 directly to consumers. Till now, Apple has been selling iPhone models through select telecom operators in India, but a trusted source informed The Mobile Indian that the new iPhone 5 will be sold directly from Apple Premium Resellers (hyperlink:https://www.apple.com/in/buy/) and that Apple India will determine the price of the phone.
Previously, prices were driven by telecom operators, but it is quite possible that Apple is still in talks with Indian telecom operators for better and more reasonable price quotes. Hence, we take this information with a grain of salt.
For the past three years, Apple iPhone models have officially been sold in India by telecom operators. A few months after the launch of a new iPhone model, iPhone units are also made available through Apple authorised resellers. Apple has been offering service support through Apple authorised resellers and Apple solutions experts.
If the new model is implemented, then one can buy the iPhone 5 and other iPhone models from Apple authorised resellers like Croma, Ezone, The Mobile Store, Staples, Vijay Sales, Maple, Imagine, iStore etc. Of course, these iPhone 5 models will be factory unlocked and users will have the liberty to choose the telecom operator of their choice.
Consumers will get the option to choose the telecom operator of their choice. That is where telecom operators come into the picture and can be expected to offer some interesting voice and data plans exclusively for the new iPhone 5. If telecom operators do crack a deal with Apple, we expect to see subsidised (contract bound) Apple iPhone 5 offers this year.
The iPhone 5 will be made available from October 26 at a price starting of approximately Rs 45,000. The phone has a 4 inch high Resolution Retina display with an Apple A6 mobile processor, 8 Megapixel iSight camera, and all new design.