Apple has taken yet another step towards grabbing a bigger slice of the smartphone market in India. There’s no doubt that they’ve caught everyone’s fancy, but – with their steeply priced products – it’s not the heart, but the wallet that makes the final decision.
To make things slightly more affordable for its consumers, Apple has announced plans for importing refurbished iPhones to the Indian shore. The Times of India reported that Apple has filed an application to that effect.
“An application from Apple regarding import of certified pre-owned iPhones for sale in India and manufacturing certified pre-owned iPhones for sale in India has been received in the Ministry of Environment and Forests,” telecom minister Ravi Shankar Prasad said in a written reply to Rajya Sabha.
The application can be seen as a follow up on another request Apple put through to the government of India – that of opening single-brand retail store, a.k.a., the Apple Store – here.
Right now Apple sells refurbished Macs, iPods, and iPads in the US. They don’t sell iPhones yet. But in India, they have asked to sell only iPhones. That clearly indicates how desperately Apple wants to be the leader of the smartphone market in the India.
What are refurbished phones?
Refurbished phones are pre-owned phones that have been returned by their owners to Apple because of some fault in them. Apple takes these phone, opens them up, repairs them, and then packages them as new phones.
Because they’ve been repaired by Apple itself, the phones are as good as new. But because they have been owned before, they cost just half of what a new phone would.
Who would buy an old, used phone?
Like we explained, these products have been fully restored to their original condition. You won’t find any scratches, or dents, or defects in these handsets. Besides, Apple puts its refurbished products through the same tests as its new ones.
Apple also offers the standard one year Warranty on the refurbished products and they’re also eligible for the Apple Care programme. So for all intents and purposes, it is a new phone!
Read Apple’s FAQs to further understand their restoring process.
Basically, just throwing these products away would be a terrible waste. So Apple restores them and sells them, making whatever little profit it can make. Meanwhile, we get an amazing deal!
If you are new to the Apple ecosystem and want to try your hand at an iPhone before investing a lot of money, then this is the best way.
Great! When are these iPhones coming, again?
The parliament is yet to arrive at a decision, so it’s still possible that the deal might never see the light of the day. However, we feel that it is a great way for Apple to put iPhones into the hands of a huge number of people. On our part, we definitely hope that the application goes through. Anything for a reasonably priced iPhone, please!
Want to exchange my iPhone 5s