The Indian government has declined Apple’s request to sell refurbished iPhones within its country (via LiveMint). The iPhone maker’s primary goal was to sell the iPhone at a more affordable cost for its customers living in the country.
High import duties are applied on used goods in India to encourage local manufacturing. The standard fee is typically 300% of the value, making it uneconomic to even consider importing goods into the market. The finance ministry notes that they do not want foreign manufacturers ‘dumping’ goods within the country, something Cook denied in a NDTV 24X7 interview.
First of all, we would never ‘dump’ anything […] In virtually all countries in the world we have a process by which a phone that’s been used by the first owner is taken back and made to be new, if you will, and a warranty is placed on that, just like a warranty for a new phone. And it’s sold for a more affordable price […] We may have to bring in some phones from other markets in order to fuel the supply chain, if you will. But the act of bringing them to pristine condition, we want to do that in this country.
Tim Cook believes that India will become “the next China” for Apple. The phone market in India is dominated by phones with $150 price tags. While it’s obvious Apple won’t be selling new $650 iPhones in the country, bringing the price tag down and selling them in the country could help Apple in its future.
