The technology organization plan to import its old iPhone to India as most of the customers prefer to buy phones under $150; however the company has been targeted with increased criticism over the plan.
Apple Inc. has become the first ever smartphone maker that can legally export used phone in India for direct sales. The ugly truth currently is that the world’s largest market which is the smartphone market is coming to a saturation point; this point is hitting many high-end smartphone makers in the industry especially Apple Inc. 2015 was the second year in which the technology giant faced its declining sales.
In an attempt to tackle this issue of declining iPhone sales, the Silicon Valley giant is trying to develop newer marker especially in India, as due to regulations and import duties, the price of a high-end device hits the roof. However, to gain back its faith in the market the tech organization is implementing another strategy of selling old and refurbished smartphones. Many believe that even before the company comes around to implementing this strategy it will fail, as it has been opposed by the government and regulatory authorities in the country as well as iPhone maker’s rivals in the industry, some of which include Samsung, Micromax and Intex.
Companies that make mid-range and low-range smartphones is the primary reason as to why the idea has come across resistance; they are mainly concerned that if Apple is allowed to go forward with this it will face increased competition in the specific smartphone category. Many people have stated that if the tech giant starts importing these phones to India, they will require a change of battery and display screen however people have pointed out that discarding these components could release toxic materials in to the already polluted Indian environment.
Since India has been one of the fastest growing markets in the smartphone business; it is highly unlikely that Apple would pull out its expansion plans so easily. Apple Inc. had a 76% iPhone sales growth in the region during the previous year; despite of the fact that most of these sales from its discounted iPhone 5 series. IPhone customers in the region prefer phones that are under $150 or less and hardly ever prefer phones that are above $600 at which the latest iPhones are usually priced at.
The recent iPhone SE that has been launched has been given a lower price tag however despite of that it is likely not going to impress the Indian customer; as at a price of 35,000 rupees it does not appeal to the Indian crowd since they would opt to buy an iPhone 6s which is just $75 more than that price.
However, if other rival manufacturers try to place the environment-centric argument game, they might just lose this battle as the tech company follows strict rules when it comes to recycling its old iPhones. The fact that the tech giant follows strict rules on recycling can soften some criticism that has been brought up on the topic of environment. Apple has an intelligent recycling robot by the name of Liam that recycles 85% of its products that were manufactured over seven years ago.
