Apple Slashes iPhone XR Prices By 22% To Boost Sales

In a bid to secure its position in the premium smartphone market in India, Apple is slashing the selling price of its latest iPhone XR model by up to 22 percent to boost sales. In the past, the Cupertino-based company has opted for cashback offers, no-cost EMIs and exchange offers but it has never reduced prices of its latest models.

The price of all three variants of XR will drop, the 64 GB model from Rs 76,900 to Rs 59,900, the 128 GB model from Rs 81,900 to Rs 64,900 and the 256 GB from Rs 91,900 to Rs 74,900, ET reported.

The iPhone maker also offers a 10 percent cashback from April 5 on HDFC Bank cards, after which the price of the 64 GB model will be Rs 53,900.

The company aims to reduce the price of this latest model down to the level of the iPhone 8, the flagship model of 2017. When XR was launched in September last year, its price was 20 percent higher than iPhone 8. The launch price of these new models was higher in 2018 due to a depreciation in the dollar-rupee and 20 percent import duties.

Apple will not change the MRP of iPhone XR but it will adopt the market operating price (MOP) strategy in India, where consumer selling prices are kept lower than MRP. Samsung and Xiaomi also follow this strategy.

Until now, Apple’s MOP and MRP had been the same, although there had been discounts in the online and offline retail channels.

“Apple runs promotional schemes for consumers but has rarely undertaken such promotional pricing. It is unlikely it can go back to the earlier MRP regime for iPhone XR in India now since it will then be difficult to attract consumers after this drop,” a source told the paper.

Apple CEO Tim Cook said in an analyst call in January that the company had absorbed all currency fluctuations to decide on a local market price for iPhone models of 2018.

He added that price correction was done in some locations and products, acknowledging that foreign exchange amped up the prices of some models in emerging markets.―Money Control