4 Ahmedabad citizens book Apple iPhone 5 at Rs1.21 lakh

Money is no bar, when it comes to chasing your dream and passion. Some Amdavadis have, in the race to become the first one to lay a hand on newly-launched iPhone 5, shelled out as much as Rs1.21 lakh, the ‘on’ price for the thinner, lighter but not so cheap device, especially India.

When the Apple’s latest device was launched on Wednesday at the price of $199 (16 GB), it seemed a very ‘cheap’ affair in Gujarat, (Rs11,000), when converted to Indian currency.

However, it could not have been more ironic. iPhone 5 which was launched on Wednesday in San Francisco, will not be sold for Rs11,000 in India and if experts are to be believed, it will cost a whopping Rs50,000 for iPhone 5 with 16 GB.

The booking of iPhone 5 is scheduled to begin from Saturday in US and delivery will start from September 21. A businessman in Ahmedabad, has already got orders for four iPhone 5, costing Rs1.21 lakh each and he is likely to deliver it in city by September 26.

“A few gadget freaks of Ahmedabad have already paid Rs1 lakh in advance and will pay additional Rs21,000 at the time of delivery. As of now, I have got four orders. I am expecting to get the phones in my hand in Ahmedabad by September 25 and after formalities, I will deliver them to my clients next day,” said the agent, on condition of anonymity. Similarly in case of iPhone 4S, he had received six orders.

“Currently, the basic version of iPhone 4S is priced around Rs42,000 and at that time, my clients bought the phone at premium price of Rs92,000 each,” he said. According to him, the customers should wait for at least two months for the actual price of iPhone 5.

“By that time, the phone will also be launched in India. Though the basic version is sold for $199 in US, the same iPhone 5, inclusive of all taxes will be priced around Rs50,000 here. It has to be costlier than iPhone 4S,” he said. One more innovation will be seen by Apple in the mobile technology. This time, a very small SIM card will be required for iPhone 5 and that is Nano SIM. Right now, the telecom operators do not have Nano SIM cards. “It has been a week since we ordered Nano SIM cards in Gujarat. Officially, the phone may be launched after a couple of months, but we have a few customers who will bring the phone from US. For them, we have placed the orders for Nano SIM,” said an official of one of the leading telecom operator of Gujarat.