India's Bharti, Aircel to launch iPhone 4S next week

Bharti Airtel Ltd. and Aircel Ltd. said Friday they will start selling Apple Inc.'s iPhone 4S on Nov. 25 in India, a fast-growing market where the Cupertino, Calif.-based company is far behind its major global rivals in smartphone sales.

Bharti will price the 16 GB model of iPhone 4S at $867 with booking starting Friday, India's largest phone company by users said on its website. Aircel Ltd., a unit of Malaysia's Maxis Bhd, didn't provide any pricing details on a notice on its website announcing the launch.

With 865.71 million wireless users at the end of August, India is the second-largest telecom market after China. India's smartphone market is growing three times the global annual average at 37%, and according to India's CyberMedia Research, sales will reach 10 million units in 2011.

But, Apple has been slow in launching its phones in the country, giving more room to its rivals. The U.S. company's market share in India at the end of June was 2.6%, compared with Nokia Corp.'s 46%, Samsung Electronics Co.'s 21% and Research in Motion Ltd.'s 15%, estimates from research firm IDC showed. Apple's phones are also priced higher.

Samsung's Galaxy S II sells at $595, while Apple's iPhone 4, which was launched in India in May, costs $693 for the 16 GB version. Bharti had 172.8 million users and Aircel 59.8 million users at the end of August, data from an industry body showed.

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