Apple iPads and iPhones will soon be available on monthly installments as IBM begins selling them to enterprises in India along with its own software bundle.
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| Apple + IBM |
"Under the arrangement with Apple, we can resell all existing Apple mobile devices, activate them and deploy and support them for two to three years. Customers can pay per year or per month — so there will be no capital cost for the customer," Will Duckworth, IBM's vice president and partner for Asia Pacific, told ET. Analysts believe this strategy could help Apple regain market share in India.
"The partnership will enable Apple to make a strong bid to enterprise users," said Kiran Kumar, research manager, client devices, at IDC India."With software and hardware cost bundled with easy payment options, Apple products can become attractive to small and mid-size businesses too; this could potentially help Apple build market share on the rising commercial tablet business in India."
Apple and IBM last week unveiled the first 10 of some 150-odd apps that IBM is developing on the Apple platform. According to Duckworth, these apps, jointly developed by IBM India labs and centres in the US, Canada and Australia, are also being tested with a few customers in India.
In order to attract price-sensitive Indian customers, IBM will resell all iOS devices Apple still sells in India, including iPhone 4S, which are available for less than Rs 20,000. Such older devices have been discontinued in markets such as the US and Europe.
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