Prabhu RamApple made a determined bid to push deeper into India, unveiling what analysts termed was a disruptive pricing for its upcoming video streaming services to take on the likes of Netflix, Hotstar and Amazon, and lowering the price of its latest entry model, iPhone 11, by nearly 16% compared with last year’s similar model, iPhone XR.
The pricing of the streaming services at Rs 99, to be launched on November 1 across iPhone, iPad and Mac, and on other platforms such as Amazon Firestick for non-Apple users in the future, makes it not only amongst the lowest in India, but also the cheapest monthly plan for Apple anywhere in the world. In the US market, for instance, the monthly plan is $5 (about Rs 350), said market watchers.
The Cupertino-based smartphone maker will offer a year of the service free with sales of its new iPhones — iPhone 11, iPhone 11 Pro and iPhone 11 Pro Max — and iPads. At the same monthly pricing, Apple has also opened up its gaming service called Apple Arcade to India as well.
Market watchers feel that the move could help push sales of its devices including iPhones, thereby propping up revenue and profitability.
“While taking the competition head-on, Apple’s current focus is unmistakably on building a sizable subscriber base and, driving revenues for both services as well as hardware,” said Prabhu Ram, head of intelligence group at Cybermedia Research. “It will push other players to take note, and cut rates as well,” he said.
