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New Delhi, September 10 (IANS). Apple has increased the prices of its iPhone lineup in India by up to 40 percent. The reason for this is the increasing cost of memory. At the same time, along with launching the new generation of its smartphones, the company has also entered the foldable segment with 'iPhone Duo', the price of which has been fixed at Rs 2.99 lakh.

Apple has increased the price of the 256GB variant of the iPhone 17 from Rs 82,900 to Rs 99,900, which represents a price increase of Rs 17,000 or 20.5 percent. At the same time, the price of 512 GB variant has become Rs 1,24,900, which was earlier Rs 1,02,900. This has led to an increase of Rs 22,000 or 21.4 percent in price.

The starting price of iPhone 18 Pro is Rs 1,64,900, which is 22 percent more than the iPhone 17 Pro. At the same time, the starting price of iPhone 18 Pro Max is Rs 1,79,900, which is 20 percent more.

Apart from this, the biggest increase has been in the price of 1TB iPhone Air. Its price has increased by 40.6 percent to Rs 2,24,900, which was earlier Rs 1,59,900.

The 256 GB and 512 GB variants of iPhone Air have also become costlier by 25 percent.

Additionally, the starting price of iPhone 17E is now Rs 79,900, which is 23.1 percent higher. At the same time, the price of 128 GB iPhone 16 has increased by 28.6 percent to Rs 89,900.

The price increase of Apple's Pro models in India is much higher than in many major markets. In the US, the prices of iPhone 18 Pro and Pro Max have increased by 9 percent and 8 percent respectively.

According to Tarun Pathak, Research Director, Counterpoint Research, iPhone prices in India have increased by 20–30 percent, much higher than the global average of 8–10 percent.

He attributed the rise in prices to memory cost, rupee weakness and increased cost of domestic production. He said that iPhone Duo may attract import duty of up to 20 percent because it is not assembled locally.

Prabhu Ram, head of industry intelligence group at Cybermedia Research, said the iPhone Duo, priced at Rs 2,99,900, establishes an ultra-premium category above the Pro series. According to him, in the near term it may serve primarily as a brand reputation-boosting product rather than a massive sales-boosting product.

Ram said financing options could help attract Pro Max users, while iPhone Duo shipments are likely to remain limited in the near term and affected by supply shortages. He said that currently foldable smartphones constitute less than 1 percent of total smartphone shipments, but Apple's entry into this segment could accelerate its growth.

–IANS

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