India is a huge market, and Apple is very well aware of that. It looks like Aircel, one of India’s smaller cell companies, has gotten quite the deal in order to dominate the low end of the smartphone market.
The iPhone 3GS is now being offered for $180 on India’s Aircel carrier, with a postpaid commitment of just $55 for a year of unlimited data. That makes the total cost for the phone $236, which is one of the lowest we’ve seen for an iPhone anywhere[…] The way that it shakes down for Indian customers is that they can buy the iPhone 3GS unlocked with a prepaid year of service including unlimited data and no SMS or 1000 minutes talk and 2500 SMS messages with unlimited 2G data for $236.
That is a great deal. Hell, there are a number of people here in the US.. that would love to get that kind of deal. This is incredibly aggressive. Apple and their global partners are well aware that the iPhone brand has considerable cachet. By offering great deals on the ancient 3GS, they can stave Android off from ruling the roost. This is a brilliant move, and I wouldn’t be surprised to see deals of this caliber proliferating in countries with rapidly growing middle classes.
Source: TNW