Apple's iPhone 6s series to start at Rs 62,000

The iPhone 6s series of smartphones will retail at a steep starting price of Rs 62,000 in India, thanks to a weak rupee.

The 16GB version of iPhone 6s will be available at Rs 62,000 ($947) while the 128GB version will retail at Rs 82,000 ($1,253), according to a leaked memo note from Apple's distributor Ingram Micro.

The iPhone 6s Plus will start at Rs 72,000 ($1,100) for the 16GB variant and Rs 92,000 ($1,406) for the 128GB variant.

The prices are far higher than in the US, where the iPhone 6s starts at $695 (about Rs 46,000) including taxes.

The Indian rupee has depreciated by around seven per cent versus the US dollar in the past 12 months. The local currency closed at a seven-week high of 65.29 to the greenback today.

Also, India recently hiked import duties on smartphones to around 12.5 per cent from six per cent in order to push the 'Make in India' campaign to boost local manufacturing. Subsequently, all existing iPhone models have also been repriced.

The new Apple devices will hit the Indian market on October 16.

Meanwhile, Google is likely to start selling its newly released smartphones, Huawei Nexus 6P and LG Nexus 5X, on October 13.

By doing so, Google is trying to get an early-mover advantage ahead of the India roll-out of the iPhone 6s series.

An IANS news report suggested that the early arrival of Nexus smartphones could be seen in the light of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's recent meeting in the US with Indian-origin Google CEO Sundar Pichai. A spokesperson for Google did not respond to a Techcircle.in query.

Google had launched both Nexus 5X and Nexus 6P on September 29 at an event in San Francisco.

Though the company did not officially disclose its India pricing, the Google Play Store page shows that Nexus 5X will be priced at Rs 31,900 for the 16GB variant. The 32GB variant is priced at Rs 35,900. The Nexus 6P starts at Rs 39,999 for the 32GB variant and Rs 42,999 for the 64GB model.

India's smartphone market is dominated by Android devices. According to data provider IDC, Google's mobile operating system has an overwhelming lead over its competitors with more than 91 per cent market share in the country. Windows Phone is the second most used mobile OS in India with a market share of 5.4 per cent. Apple's iOS, which powers iPhones, has a market share of 2.3 per cent.