Quick Edit | Beyond reach

What’s the sweet spot for a top-end phone in India? The answer to that question may vary depending on the person providing one: some say Rs20,000, others, Rs25,000, and still others, Rs35,000. That is still significantly lower than the starting price for the iPhone 4S in the country. That would suggest one of three things. One, Apple’s exclusive partners through which it is selling the 4S in India do not believe it is in their interest to subsidize the phone with a bundled plan. Two, Apple itself perhaps doesn’t care much for the Indian market. Three, maybe it is both the above. With Research In Motion (the maker of BlackBerry) losing some ground among high-end corporate users, and no clear leader in the smartphone market, there was an opportunity for Apple to go beyond the very small niche it has in the phone market here. That it has chosen not to says a lot about how it still thinks of India.