Reliance Jio-Apple Tie Up Makes Buying IPhone Attractive: Details Here

Mukesh Ambani-led Reliance Jio has teamed up with Cupertino, US-based Apple to launch the latest iPhone 8 and iPhone X along with Jio connection in order to garner more users for its telecom network. The two companies recently announced their partnership in which Jio has promised to buy back the new models of iPhones at an attractive price. According to Jio, customers who buy Apple's iPhone 8/ iPhone 8 Plus/ iPhone X models and recharge with Jio for a plan worth Rs. 799 every month are eligible for the buy-back plan. As part of the offer, Reliance will buy back the high-end phones after 12 months. In return, customers will get 70 per cent of the price of their iPhone.

Here are 10 things that you must know about this offer from Apple and Reliance Jio:

1. The move could draw more high-paying customers to the Jio network, besides lifting Apple sales in the country, reported news agency Thomson Reuters.
2. This is the first time Reliance is offering such a hefty buyback price in a bid to win over high-spending Apple fans whose hunger for data, the company hopes, will boost revenues.
3. The Apple deal is at the high end of the spectrum. Jio is also working to woo cost-conscious buyers by offering JioPhone, a low-cost 4G feature phone that can be bought for a refundable deposit of Rs. 1,500.
4. While there is no penalty for downgrading to a cheaper plan or leaving the contract mid-way through, customers who do so will lose out on the buyback offer.
5. While customers have to recharge iPhones for Rs. 799 Jio pack, the telecom industry's monthly average revenue per user was just Rs. 80 during the April-June quarter. This offer is likely to boost Jio's average revenue per user, a key performance metrics for telcos.
6. Apple is keen to sell more iPhones in India, one of the world's biggest smartphone markets, but the expensive cost of its handsets has kept higher-end iPhones, in particular, out of the reach of hundreds of millions of Indians.
7. This is Apple's latest attempt to grow in India's competitive smartphone market.
8. Analysts doubts if the buyback offer will do much to boost Apple's market share in the country. iPhone users here can already easily resell old phones for 50 to 60 per cent of their cost in the second-hand market. "Older and more affordable iPhones will still make for a bulk of Apple's sales in India," said Tarun Pathak, analyst at tech research firm Counterpoint. "People want their phones but not necessarily the latest and the most expensive ones."
9. For Apple, growing in India is crucial as growth slows at home and in China.
10. The deal will place Apple's iPhones in Reliance and Jio retail stores in 900 cities across the country, giving the company a chance to boost its meagre 3 per cent market share and close the gap with market leader Samsung Electronics.

(With Reuters Inputs)