If you’ve been putting off buying a new iPhone, you might want to reconsider. Apple iPhone prices are expected to get higher in India soon, but not for the reason you might think. Apple is reportedly planning to remove some of the benefits it offers when buying iPhones in India. Eliminating these benefits could increase the upfront cost that buyers must pay when buying an iPhone.
What happened?
According to media reports, Apple plans to withdraw support from Indian retailers and channel partners for its demand generation or DG benefits. Removing these offers could increase the net effective price of Apple’s iPhones in India, a market that has enjoyed steep discounts. The report further claims that once this change takes effect, the effective price of the iPhone may increase by approximately $5,000.
It’s worth mentioning that this move is not surprising. The iPhone maker recently slashed cash back rewards $6,000 to $1,000 units in India, making the iPhone 17 series relatively expensive for Indian buyers.
What is Director General Support? Why are they so important?
DG Support is a back-end incentive offered by the company to retailers and channel partners. These benefits allow retailers to offer discounts and other incentives to interested buyers without changing the device’s maximum retail price (MRP), making it more attractive to price-sensitive buyers.
In the case of Apple iPhones, DG benefits help retailers mitigate the impact of high MRP and make slightly older devices like the iPhone 16 more profitable for buyers. They also give iPhone a competitive advantage over other brands. However, this buffer is expected to disappear as DG benefits are soon to be withdrawn. This means that interested buyers will have to pay more to purchase the iPhone of their choice once this change takes effect.
Will all iPhone models become more expensive in India?
Reports indicate that this change may affect slightly older iPhone models, including the iPhone 15 and iPhone 16. Newer iPhone models, such as the iPhone 17 series, are not expected to be affected by this change.
Furthermore, the report also suggests that the removal of DG support is unlikely to curb iPhone sales in India in the long run as most iPhone purchases are made through EMI, which reduces the pressure of high upfront payments.
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