Apple and other brands' gray market booming in India
Fashion and passion with standardization is the whole new story round the Indian domain. Imported electronics have always been considered prestigious. Since not everyone has an access to foreign gadgets, so the Gray market is flourishing with camera lenses, PlayStations, knockoff watches, computers, MP3 players and pirated DVDs in every nook and corner of the country.
The big thing is that this Gray market can provide high tech appliances of any brand of any country and that too within lowest possible prices. This boom is here to stay because millions of Indians have a taste for Apple, Lenovo and other top brands. However, consumers too don't have any other choice to satiate thier luxurious demands, as original products are heavily taxed.
Locally produced brands like Windows are cheap; since Apple stuff have to make their way from production facilities in China, they accumulate quite a lot of cost-inflating customs charges. Buying legit is no inducement as they are launched officially late, and are often more expensive than in the Dubai, U.S., and Singapore.
Even the brand names do not have much incentive to push retailers to stay legit as added costs go to the government, thus it may be in their interest to let smugglers enhance the company's sales statistics. By an estimate, company like Apple has 60 per cent and 90 per cent of sales in India through Gray market.
Shopping through gray market has its dangers with counterfeit parts and rough handling by smugglers and the most important aspect is that they do not give any warranties. Howeve, no one bother about warranty when one is getting imported brands for cheap.
Moreover, for Apple 'The closest support center is in Singapore and most local servicing here is -- at best -- hit or miss'.
As per Scott Carney, all these considerations leads to the fact 'Even the rich don't want to pay full price'. And why should one!
via: wired
