iPhone 5 is here, time to buy cheaper iPhone 4, 4S

Prices of a 16GB model- Rs 45,500, 32 GB is Rs 52,500 and 64 GB is Rs 59,500

Apple’s latest smartphone, iPhone 5 has made it to the Indian markets within 42 days of being launched in the US markets. Priced at Rs 45,500 and onwards, the device is being heavily promoted by telecom operators and large format retail stores across country. Apple India has roped in national distributors, Redington India and Ingram Micro, for the first time to retail its smartphones. Earlier, Apple preferred the telecom operator-led distribution in India where Aircel and Airtel sold the iPhones.

With the new iPhone 5 grabbing attention across Apple’s premium resellers (like Imagine Stores, Reliance’s iStores) and even online retailers like Indiatimes Shopping, Saholic among others boasting of pre-orders for the iPhone 5 accompanied by free home deliveries, many customers are opting to list their 12-18 month old iPhone 4 and iPhone 4S for resale, where prices start at Rs 19,000 and onwards.

Kapil Dahiya, an iPhone 4 owner, who has listed his white-iPhone 4 on online classified sites, Quikr and OLX, for Rs 19,000 says, “I bought the iPhone 4 in August last year and now that the new iPhone 5 is in market, I am eager to upgrade the device. But Apple as a brand has great aspirational value for many and so I am reselling it.” Dahiya, who listed the iPhone 4 online on November 1, claims that he has already got a buyer willing to pay the asking price.

With the iPhone 5 in market, many buyers are also willing to put their money on older iPhone models since they feel the deal offered by several shops and online stores makes the handset affordable. Anil Khetri, a financial planner in Gurgaon, is planning to buy an iPhone 4S from an online e-commerce site that will cost him Rs 37,000. “When iPhone 4S was launched in India, the 16GB model was listed for Rs 44,500. Today, I’m getting the same device nearly Rs 8000 cheaper and comes with the same version of mobile operating system (iOS6) that’s on iPhone 5 and even the same number of apps,” he reasons.

At Apple retail stores, a brand new iPhone 4S now starts at Rs 38,500 while the iPhone 4 starts at Rs 26,500. The older iPhone 3GS smartphone retails at about Rs 15000 on many online stores.

The iPhone 5 is the first Apple smartphone with 4-inch screen size that features the high-speed Long-Term Evolution network (LTE). The phone also features a new quad-core A6 processor, a newly-enhanced camera infrastructure, as well as a new mini-dock connector. “Demand for iPhone 5 has been incredible and we are working hard to get an iPhone 5 into the hands of every customer who wants one as quickly as possible,” noted Tim Cook, Apple’s CEO in an official release when Apple announced that it had sold over five million iPhone 5 within 3 days after its launch on September 21, 2012.

According to CMR data, during January-June 2012, total India shipments of mobile handsets was recorded at 102.43 million units and shipments of smartphones were 5.5 million units in the same period. Faisal Kawoosa, Lead Analyst, CyberMedia Research’s Telecoms Practice believes, “The first half of CY 2012 was witness to the high-decibel launch of Samsung Galaxy S III, HTC One X et al. The second half of CY 2012 continues to see launch of a number of high value, aspirational smartphone models such as the Nokia Lumia 910, Samsung Galaxy Note II and the Apple iPhone 5. This push from vendors and the increasing maturity of the India mobile subscriber community is expected to further push up smartphones as a proportion of total mobile handset shipments in the country in the next few quarters.”