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Follow UsBANGALORE, INDIA: The wait is over. Apple Inc's iPhone 4S will be available at Apple stores across India from Friday. Hold your breath. It is way too steeply priced at Rs.44,500 (16GB) compared to Rs.33,000 in the US and Rs.40,300 in the UK.
If you are an Apple fanboy, it's time you plan to queue up at stores as the sales are expected to start Thursday midnight.
Apple has partnered with Aircel and Bharti Airtel to launch the smartphone in India.
Also read: iPhone 4S tech specifics
According to Airtel website, iPhone 4S (16 GB) will be priced Rs.44,500, 32GB will cost Rs.50,900 and 64GB Rs.57,500.
The new iPhone 4S smartphone is expensive by almost 10 thousand rupees in India compared to US price for the same gadget. Apple sells iPhone 4S in US locked select with telecom providers in US, while Apple sells its products in India with bundled offering from partner mobile operators.
The starting cost of iPhone 4S in the US is $649 (Rs.33,000), in Hong Kong HK$ 5,088 (Rs.33,000), and in UK 499 pounds (Rs.40,300)
Apple's iPhone 4S an incremental upgrade: Ovum
Both Airtel and Aircel had begun pre-booking of iPhone 4S weeks ago.
Apple India spokesman had hinted about the India launch when he told CIOL recently that Apple has plans to make iPhone 4S available in more than 70 countries by the end of the year.
But he had not confirmed whether India would figure among those 70 nations.
Apple recently launched its new smartphone in about 15 countries, including three Asian countries.
The iPhone 4S features a dual-core processor, 8 megapixel camera and also a revolutionary artificial intelligence-based personal assistant called Siri which works via voice recognition.
(Prices mentioned in the report are approximate caluclations. They may change according to the buying and selling price of US dollars against Indian rupee)