Apple To Start iPhone 15 Pre-Booking In India From Sept 15

At the glittering Apple Event 2023, the Cupertino-based smartphone maker unveiled its newest iPhone 15s, starting at INR 79,900 in India. 

The iPhone 15 has been launched in four variants — iPhone 15, 15 Plus, 15 Pro, and 15 Pro Max. Indian customers will be able to pre-order the iPhone 15 Pro and iPhone 15 Pro Max, alongside all other major markets, from 5:30 PM onwards on September 15. 

“Customers in more than 40 countries and regions, including Australia, Canada, China, France, Germany, India, Japan, Mexico, the UAE, the UK, and the US, will be able to pre-order iPhone 15 Pro and iPhone 15 Pro Max beginning at 5 a.m. PDT this Friday, September 15, with availability beginning Friday, September 22,” Apple said in a statement. 

The lowest model of the smartphone, with 128 GB memory, will be available for nearly INR 80,000, while the 256 GB and 512 GB models will retail for INR 89,900 and INR 1,09,900, respectively. On the higher end of the spectrum, the 1 TB model of iPhone 15 Pro Max will sell in India for INR 1,99,900, the most expensive iPhone sold in the country to date. 

“iPhone 15 Pro and iPhone 15 Pro Max will be available in black titanium, white titanium, blue titanium, and natural titanium finishes. iPhone 15 Pro starts at INR 1,34,900 and is available in 128 GB, 256 GB, 512 GB, and 1TB storage capacities. iPhone 15 Pro Max starts at INR 1,59,900 and is available in 256 GB, 512 GB, and 1 TB storage capacities,” Apple said. 

The tech major also introduced its Apple Watch Series 9 smartwatches at the event. The product will be available for pre-order beginning September 13, as per the company. While the Apple Watch Series 9 will start from INR 41,900, the Apple Watch SE is priced north of INR 29,900.

In terms of specifications, the iPhone 15 also comes with an A16 Bionic chip, while the iPhone 15 Pro and iPhone 15 Pro Max come embedded with A17 Pro, supposedly the industry’s first 3-nanometer chip.

iPhone 15 will be available in two sizes, 6.1-inch and 6.7-inch (Plus). Along with a tough ceramic glass shield, the phones will feature a 48-megapixel main camera. On the other hand, the iPhone 15 Pro and Pro Max will boast a new 48MP main camera with macro photography and a 1-120 Hz refresh rate. 

Another big change announced at the event was that the smartphone maker has done away with the mute switch in the iPhone 15 Pro and Pro Max versions, and replaced it with a customisable multifunction button.

In addition, Apple also said that it will roll out a USB-C charging port for both iPhone 15 and charging cases of its AirPods Pro devices.

What It Means For India

Even as Apple made a big splash while launching the iPhone 15s, much was happening back home. This will be the first time that the latest generation of Apple smartphones will be manufactured in India and will be made available to users globally on the very first day.

However, it is still unclear if a substantial number of made-in-India iPhone 15s will hit the global markets amid supply-chain issues.

Buoyed by the Indian government’s production-linked incentives (PLIs) and a healthy growth rate in India, the smartphone maker has ramped up its investments and has been gradually scaling up production in the country.

Apple also became the largest smartphone exporter in India. Of the $6.5 Bn worth of iPhones made in India in 2022-23, nearly $5 Bn were exported, which made it the country’s single-largest mobile phone exporter.

Besides, Apple has also been eyeing a big pie of the Android smartphones-dominated Indian market. At par with its global peers, Apple will start pre-booking its iPhone 15s in India on September 15.

Not just this, the original equipment manufacturer (OEM) has also shored up its marketing efforts in the country and established two full-fledged Apple outlets in Mumbai and Delhi to offer a personalised experience to its Indian customers. This strategy has borne fruit for the Cupertino-based company.

From holding a mere 2% market share in 2019, Apple increased its presence in the homegrown smartphone market to 4% in 2022. Owing to record sales in the April-June quarter of 2023, Apple accounted for 5% of the smartphone market share in India.

As per Counterpoint Research, India is one of Apple’s top five markets, clocking a 56% YoY growth between April and June 2023.

Going forward, the company appears well-poised to clinch a 7% market share in the Indian smartphone market by the end of the current year, as per a report.