Apple is allowing resellers to slash prices on its older iPhone models to break into India’s cell phone market, Bloomberg reports. While Apple’s official website is only currently selling the iPhone 6S and SE in India, resellers like Amazon and Flipkart are offering the iPhone 5, 5S, and 6 for a substantial discount over what other parts of the world would pay.
Varuni T.V., a business professor in India, recently bought her first iPhone 5S for $300, while the similar iPhone SE retails in the US for $400 before taxes and fees. Indians are expected to buy more than a billion smartphones in the next 5 years, and Apple currently only accounts for 3 percent of sales in the country.
The company has already moved manufacturing to India to gain access to the market and is now hiring “affordability managers” to help potential customers negotiate with banks and other lenders to come up with the necessary capital to buy an iPhone. Reducing the price of older models is making it easier for younger customers to buy an iPhone, which then opens up new sales opportunities for Apple with its App Store, iTunes and online service ecosystem.
