Here's my guess: Rs. 30,000 plus for the
iPhone 3G 8GB and no contract (wouldn't work in India) but it will only be available to post-paid customers.
My logic as to price
If it's available in the U.S. for $599 (about Rs. 26,000) unlocked-ish for the 8GB version, they couldn't possibly charge less in India. 30k seems about right.
My logic as to no-contracts
In the States, everything is linked to your credit history. Here, thankfully, we don't have this evil evil system yet in the mainstream. Because what it means is that if you get an iPhone in a contract and don't honour it (e.g. by stop paying your bills)
Apple will screw your credit rating. And this in turn will make your life hell when it comes time to do anything from buying a car, to taking an education loan, to buying / renting a house etc. And since all this is linked to your Social Security number, chances of scamming the system are very very low. I am not saying that it doesn't happen, but it will happen in very rare cases.
In India, people will get the phone under a false name and address (or under someone else's name and address and let them suffer) and then bounce. Anyone who has got a cell-phone connection knows how easy it is to get a connection.
So let's say the iPhone comes here for a subsidized price of 15K. People will buy it fraudulently like I said, unlock it (it's child's play to unlock it), and then sell it for 20 - 22K courtesy of places like Palika and Gaffar. Eaaaaasy profit for very little work.
Hi vebk,
2 things i would like to point out - The iPhone 3G is available without a contract for $599 in US but is still locked.
Unlocking the 3g iPhone is not child's play. uptil today (22/07/08) you can only jailbreak the 3G iphone, you cannot UNLOCK it.
The tool for that is still being worked on and I am sure it will be unlocked eventually.
If apple does not sell UNLOCKED
iPhones anywhere YET, I am sure they are not going to start doing that in India. They may sell contract free, but it will still force you to buy from either Vodafone or Airtel and then stick with them.
cheers.