The Indian lawmakers have reportedly rejected Global Tech Giant Apple’s request to import and sell used iPhones in the country. According to a telecommunications industry official in communication with Bloomberg, the application by the US company has been rejected. India is the second largest phone market in the world and Apple has only a meager 2 percent market share here. Currently, with the slump in global shipments and slowing China market, the company is looking for ways to sell its devices in India. The company realizes that its devices are priced too high for the price conscious Indian consumers. This is the primary reason why the company plans on bringing used or refurbished devices to the country that can be sold at lower prices. This also means that the government’s decision comes as a huge setback for Apple.
Apple’s rivals also have a campaign against the company’s request as it could mean making way to a huge number of used electronics into the country. This will also hamper the Make in India initiative by the current government. The motive of Make in India is to encourage local manufacturing, which will go haywire if it is replaced by some used and probably older models of the iPhone selling at cheaper prices. In fact, according to the report, such a request of used goods was also rejected by the environment ministry in 2015.
An online report on 9To5Mac also points out that its (Apple’s) iPhone Upgrade Program in the United States gave the company a plentiful supply of used phones that it could have sold at much lower prices in India without sacrificing margin, which must have seemed like the perfect plan. To woo emerging markets, Apple recently launched a cheaper iPhone SE in India, but the facts and figures point out that the device is being preferred by developed markets instead.