Apple slashes prices of iPhone 5s, now starts at Rs. 24,999 (16GB model)

Apple India has slashed the price of its best-selling smartphone, the iPhone 5s. The device which had received a price cut of Rs. 12,000 few months ago, has now been downed to almost half in the span of three months, reports Time of India.

The Apple iPhone 5s prices now starts at Rs. 24,999 for the 16GB model which is a massive drop from Rs. 44,500 in September.  It makes the Indian price of the phone one of the lowest across the globe, despite the depreciating rupee and higher import taxes making India among markets where Apple products cost the most. 

Notably if your an online shopper, the deal gets sweeter. Flipkart is offering the iPhone 5s, 16GB space grey variant for Rs. 21,945, while Amazon India is offering the same model for Rs. 22,300. 

Analyst suggest that Apple's price cut of iPhone 5s is part of its strategy to build a stronger portfolio in the mid-segment smartphone market in the country. The report also mention that Apple claims the iPhone 5s accounts for almost 50 percent of the total iPhone sales in India. 

"The $250-400 (Rs 16,000-Rs 27,000) price band is where Apple wants to focus its energies in India since they want to lock in more consumers into their eco-system which would build up a base for upgradation when newer iPhones are launched," said Tarun Pathak, senior telecom analyst at Counterpoint Research

To recap, Apple launched the iPhone 5s in India towards the end of 2013 for Rs. 53,900 (16GB Model). It offers 4-inch Retina display, 8MP iSight rear camera, 1.2MP front camera and is equipped with an Apple A7 chipset- based on 64-bit PC architecture with a M7 co-processor for motion sensing activities. The phone also comes with a fingerprint sensor, fueled by 1560mAh battery and is upgradable to the latest iOS 9.