Apple’s newest iPods (Sep’09 Edition): Disappointing India Pricing

The iPods announced by Apple on 9th September at their It’s Only Rock And Roll event will be available in India shortly. (Shortly being another 2-3 weeks; and definitely before Diwali – the holiday season in India). Here are the prices. As usual, we’ve put up a comparison with the US dollar prices which should help you decide whether to buy them in India or have that friend/cousin pick them up for you in the US:
[We use a pessimistic conversion rate of 1 USD = 50 INR ]
| iPod | shuffle 2GB | shuffle 4GB | nano 8GB | nano 16GB | classic 160GB | touch 8GB | touch 16GB | touch 32GB |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| $ | 59 | 79 | 149 | 179 | 249 | 199 | 299 | 399 |
| Rs. | 3,700 | 4,800 | 9,400 | 12,400 | 15,200 | 12,400 | 18,400 | 24,400 |
| $ ➙ Rs. | 2,950 | 3,950 | 7,450 | 8,950 | 12,450 | 9,950 | 14,950 | 19,950 |
| Delta | 750 | 850 | 1,950 | 3,450 | 2,750 | 2,450 | 3,450 | 4,450 |
| % | 25.42 | 21.51 | 26.17 | 38.54 | 22.08 | 24.62 | 23.07 | 22.30 |
The numbers baffle us as always – especially the price of the 16 GB iPod nano – we don’t see how a price margin of 38.54% over the US price is justified. The things absence of credible competition in the market does!
