iphones

With an increase in the economic strength of India, many companies are showing interest in expanding their business here. One of them being Apple. Recently, the number of smartphones in India has seen a drastic rise resulting as the third largest smartphone market in the world, behind China and the U.S. This has made India the nation with the second largest number of smart phones. Apple has seen the potential in India and is very eager to increase its presence in India. As of now there is no official retailer for Apple products in India, they sell using third party retailers like local electronic shops and other vendors. Apple has filed an application to get permission to open its own stores in the country to sell products directly.

Apart from this, Apple has another plan which includes selling used IPhones in the Indian market to increase its market share. The Apple phones are a little steeply priced and that is one area where Apple faces problems in India, but they are planning to overcome that by selling previously owned iPhones at a cheaper rate. This plan itself is facing a lot of resistance, especially from companies in the likes of Micromax and Samsung who are currently more popular in India.

Apple's initial application to sell refurbished iPhones or say used iPhones in India was rejected in 2015 by the environment ministry. The company's latest application has gone to "inter-ministerial discussion" and if it gets approved, India would be the first country with used iPhones to be sold directly from Apple.

At this same time, major smartphone makers in the Indian market including Samsung, Karbonn, Micromax and Intex are actively opposing Apple's move on environmental grounds as India is already struggling to deal with a massive e-waste problem.

The other core reason for protesting against this initiative of Apple is that this goes against the "Make In India" plan launched by Modi, which wants to promote more Indian brands. This plan will influence the market in a way that Indian brands will suffer because of this.

All of this is a result of the forecast by the IMF about the Indian economy. The IMF has predicted that the Indian market and economy is on the rise and will be for the next 2-3 years.

The opposition came in a letter sent to the Indian government by a lobbying group recently set up by India's Consumer Electronics and Appliances Manufacturers Association (CEAMA). In the letter, manufacturers argued that allowing the sale of used iPhones in India would not only negatively impact the environment, but it would also go against the country's importation policy.
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