India might be willing to bend some laws to help Apple gain traction in the country, but when it comes to the company’s request to import and sell refurbished iPhones to the world’s second-largest mobile population, things aren’t quite so positive.
According to a new report, Apple’s application was turned down on the grounds that it might hurt local handset manufacturers.
And one of the companies behind the campaign to stop Apple? None other than decidedly non-local smartphone maker, Samsung!
Samsung was part of a group called the Mobile and Communications Council, which also includes Micromax and Intex: two more of the big phone brands which sell in India.
At present, Apple has less than 2 percent of the Indian market, although it has shown a willingness to change up its business practices to gain a foothold in the country — either by cutting iPhone prices to get them into more people’s hands, or by introducing lower-cost devices such as the iPhone SE.
With Apple increasingly at loggerheads with the Chinese government, which favors China-based brands over U.S. ones, India is a promising up-and-coming market for Apple. Recently the company stated its plans to open new flagship Apple Stores in the country, in addition to investing $25 million in a new office complex in India — bringing around 4,500 jobs to the region during the construction process.
It seems that not everything is going to be quite so straightforward for Apple, though. And particularly not when Samsung is involved.
Source: Bloomberg
Luke Dormehl is a U.K.-based journalist and author, with a background working in documentary film for Channel 4 and the BBC. He is the author of The Apple Revolution and The Formula: How Algorithms Solve All Our Problems … and Create More, both published by Penguin/Random House. His tech writing has also appeared in Wired, Fast Company, Techmeme and other publications.
5 responses to “Samsung successful in bid to block used iPhone sales in India”
Dont care who was behind this, but, all of us are happy with the decision. We dont want to be the dumping ground for used devices. We already have a lot of thrash. Thank you very much!
Yes, you do have a lot of Samsung phones already, so your point is well taken.
Apple should just send millions of old iPhones to countries like this. Give them to them for free then when they want to upgrade they can buy brand new ones from apple. Screw samsung lol
Well I grew up there and trust me it is all about bribe …
Samsung made happy some people with few crores rupees bribe, blocking this …. Anything is possible with payout under the table .
If anyone at this point didn’t already know that Samsung=Slime, then this would illustrate it very clearly.
First, they rip off the product. Then, they sell their illegal rip offs, and finally they set up deals where the original innovator can’t even sell product in certain markets.
A renovated iPhone from Apple would be FAR better supported than would any wanna-be Android rip off.