Apple's smartwatch is pinching Indian pockets more than its handheld cousins. While iPhones and iPads have seen their fair share of price hikes, the Apple Watch takes the crown for the steepest price increase.
Price hikes for the wearable device have outpaced other Apple products, rising from around Rs 30,000 for Series 3 model in 2017 to Rs 46,900 in 2024 for Series 10 version of the Apple Watch.
Apple-to-Apple comparison
A Moneycontrol analysis shows that Apple Watch inflation, at 56.9 percent, has been faster than iPhone, where prices increased by 25 percent over the past seven years.
iPad consumers would be even more delighted, as between 2017 and 2024, the price of iPad’s base model jumped at an even slower rate of 20.8 percent.
The iPad's base model was priced at around Rs 30,000 in 2017, but it costs nearly Rs 35,000 now.
iPhones and iPads don’t beat inflation
Although prices of Apple’s flagship product - the iPhone - have increased nearly 30 percent in the last decade, a Moneycontrol analysis shows that they still don’t beat inflation.
Meanwhile, consumer prices in India rose by 56 percent between 2015 and 2024.
The Cupertino-based company announced Apple iPhone 16 on September 9, priced at Rs 79,900. This marks the fourth year of no change in the prices of its base model.
Over the last seven years, the price of Apple iPhone products has jumped 25 percent. In 2017, the company announced the iPhone 8, priced at Rs 63,900 in India.
India's consumer inflation went up 43.7 percent during this period.
A comparison with other mobile handsets shows a faster pace of increase. Data from the consumer price index on mobile handsets shows a 22.1 percent inflation between July 2017 and July 2024.
Apple Watch, however, has outpaced inflation during this period with faster price increases.
Counterpoint Research noted this month that India has managed to beat the US to become the second-largest smartphone market after China in the first half of 2024.
As per another research consultancy, IDC, Apple had a 6.7 percent share in the Indian smartphone market in the second quarter of 2024, rising from 5.6 percent during a similar period in 2023.
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