One Lakh iPhones Sold in First Three Days After the Demonetization Announcement

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With the Demonetization announcement by the Government of India on November 8th, the Rs. 500 and Rs. 1,000 notes are not considered as legal tenders. Everyone stood in front of banks to get their money exchanged. Since the exchange should be done through personal accounts, the black money is ended up without any values. During the initial days after the demonetization, the sales of the premium products are said to be increased while the retail businesses are largely affected. Considering the sales of premium products, Apple iPhones are on top of the list.

More than one lakh iPhones are said to be sold in the first days after the Demonetization announcement. While details are not allowed to accept older denomination from November 9th, the stores might have billed for the earlier dates and accepted the older currency notes. Few stores even sold the devices above the retail price. With this effect, the company is expected to see 20-30% growth in sales while the overall smartphones sales are expected to be lower than a year ago numbers. Out of the all the models, the newly launched iPhone 7 and iPhone 7 Plus are seeing more demand.

Currently, the base variant of iPhone 7 with 32GB storage is retailing at Rs. 60,000 while the iPhone 7 Plus with 32GB storage costs Rs. 72,000. There are also 128GB and 256GB storage options. Even the online stores like Flipkart and Amazon had stopped the Cash on Delivery mode in the first week after demonetization. Recently, the ICA also urged the Government to allow purchasing the smartphones with older Rs. 1,000 and Rs. 5o0 notes. While the Government is yet to respond, the ICA also suggested that the smartphones will give users an option to opt for cashless transactions.

To avoid any misuse, the sales are also said to be made through Aadhar card information. The offline sales of smartphones have seen a 50% drop translating to around Rs. 175-200 crore transactions per day. The Government of Andhra Pradesh also announced to offers free smartphones for all the below poverty line (BPL) families in the state. With this scheme, the government is expecting to increase the cashless transactions which indirectly controls the corruption and improves the cash deficiency. Several mobile wallets like PayTM already seeing a huge rise in new accounts.

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