iPhone 3Gs in India

The iPhone 3Gs has been introduced. Finally! At the moment it looks like Airtel and Vodafone will be selling it. But in time other service providers might, too.

A cursory look through the FAQ at Airtel shows up these details.

• The iPhone 3Gs will be available at Airtel dealers from 26th March.
• No exchange offer with old phones or old iPhones
• The warranty link on the Airtel iPhone 3Gs is linked to Apple's warranty page. So its Apple's warranty for the iPhone 3Gs in India.
• Prices (before taxes are)
• iPhone 3G 8 GB (Black) for Rs 29,500
• iPhone 3GS 16 GB (White & Black) for Rs 35,500 
• iPhone 3GS 32 GB (White & Black) for Rs 41,500
• You can use any airtel SIM with the iPhone 3Gs
• But you cannot use the iPhone 3Gs with another service provider

At these prices, the iPhone 3Gs in India will sell for US$ 790 for the 16 Gb and US$ 1010 for the 32 Gb. I wonder how it will compare with the iPad when it becomes available from Apr 3, 2010. 

For the moment though, it appears that in India the iPad may sell for less than the iPhone. And if you've got yours earlier from the gray market, or from HongKong, it looks like  you probably got a better deal.

After I wrote this piece, my good friend Prabhat Garg at Autsun wrote and informed me that the iPhone 3Gs is also available at autsun.com.

Links here

From Autsun in India...
iPhone 3Gs 16 Gb
iPhone 3Gs 32 Gb
Shipping is free anywhere in India.

What this means is that wherever you buy your iPhone 3Gs in India, it will work if you pop in your Airtel or Vodafone SIM. The one from autsun.com will work with any Airtel SIM.

SIMs from other service providers may not work by just inserting them. You may need to do some work to make them work.

Why the iPad will succeed

A lot has been written for 'industry pundits' and columnists about the new Apple iPad. Some slam it, many give it a lukewarm review, and few hailed it as the next big thing. But universally, most are circumspect about announcing it as a failure - or a huge success.

As a product, the iPad is not going after 'market share' as this is a whole new product maybe a whole new market even. But it will definitely eat in to the sales of netbooks, PCs laptops, even Macbooks, and iPod touches.

It just occured to me that it may well be a huge success in numbers for another reason. I'm not sure of the numbers, but Apple sells more iPhones and iPod touches than it sell any other computing device. And a very large percentage of these iPhone and iPod touch owners do not own a Mac laptop or desktop.

So, for these people who have a iPhone or iPod touch, but not a Mac, the Mac vs PC argument means little. Even the OS in their hand held device matters little. For such users - of which there are millions -  who also own many AppStore apps, the iPad represents a device which...

1. runs all their existing iPhone/iPod touch apps.
2. allows them to surf the web on a larger screen anywhere.
3. allows them to see movies on a larger screen anywhere.
4. make documents, spreadsheets, presentations with a 'touch'.
5. may one day allow them to buy and comfortably read books on a hand held device.
6. play a variety of games on the go.
7. listen to all their music.
6. costs less than their iPhone (in many countries).

Now that sounds like an attractive device.

That's how it will appear to a large percentage the 75 million or so iPhone or iPod users especially outside the US in countries where the iPhone sold even for about US$ 700-900 and was still lapped up.

For techies and media pros, there are additional uses...

1. browser for manuals

2. logging media

3. jotting down tech notes

4. viewing media on the go - maybe even dailies

5. making presentations

6. sketching layouts even circuit diagrams

7. vnc over wifi

8. writing continuity

9. emergency clap or slate