Apple iPhone 4 launched in India

New Delhi: Apple’s iPhone 4 hit store shelves in India on Friday, nearly a year after the next-generation version of the popular smartphone was rolled out worldwide.

Mobile phone carrier Aircel launched the iPhone 4 with a new pricing model, allowing customers to recover the upfront cost of the smartphone on select plans over 24 months, the company said in a press release.

Aircel will charge Rs34,500 for iPhones with a 16 GB capacity and Rs40,900 for the 32 GB model, it said.

Bharti Airtel, India’s top mobile phone carrier, also launched the phone.

The iPhone 4 boasts a higher-quality screen and longer battery life than the previous model.

With more than 800 million mobile subscribers, India is the world’s second-biggest market for mobile phone services and is also the fastest-growing. But smartphones are estimated to account for just over 5% of the mobile handset sales.

Indian carriers have recently started rolling out high-speed third-generation (3G) mobile networks, which is expected to boost sales of smartphones.