An open letter to Asus India

As you mentioned, it's the same for most of the companies. They sell products at atrocious premiums. Lets see what the Asus India guys do, now that this suggestion/complaint is on record.

Re: An open letter to Asus India

#5

Post by nos4A2 » Sat, Nov 10, 2012, 3:48 PM UTC

Factual errors: padfone2 is only released in taiwan and will be launched in other countries in december, the customs duty in India is 25-30% for "entertainment" devices which include other "luxury" items like GPUs, Tablets and kindles (I know this firsthand).

Re: An open letter to Asus India

#6

Post by kakuri » Sat, Nov 10, 2012, 4:04 PM UTC

I have to wonder if perhaps they perceive that with the wide income disparity in India, there's not a sufficiently large market for $200-$500 devices.

Let's say they can sell 15,000 at $500 each. Maybe they think that many of those buyers hardly care about the price, so why not sell 10,000 at $1000 each? Then they get $10M instead of $7.5M.

I can certainly identify with the frustration of people who do care about price, and could bear the price tag offered in other countries.

Re: An open letter to Asus India

#7

Post by scorpioxy » Sat, Nov 10, 2012, 4:53 PM UTC

This issues is not specific to India though. I face the same problem here in Lebanon.

It is actually cheaper to buy things from Amazon, pay shipping to my forwarding company and customs here than buying from local retailers. The only problem is if there's a problem with the purchase then returns are a problem.

Re: An open letter to Asus India

#8

Post by bishnu » Sat, Nov 10, 2012, 4:58 PM UTC

From what I understand, India has a fairly high import tax on electronics. FWIW, it looks like the 16 iPhone 5 retails there for ~$850.

Re: An open letter to Asus India

#9

Post by aashutoshvatsa » Sat, Nov 10, 2012, 4:59 PM UTC

nos4A2 wrote: post #5

Factual errors: padfone2 is only released in taiwan and will be launched in other countries in december, the customs duty in India is 25-30% for "entertainment" devices which include other "luxury" items like GPUs, Tablets and kindles (I know this firsthand).

I mean to say, Padfone 2 has already been showcased to a wider public through tech media sites and ASUS India made the Padfone (now almost an year old product) available in India a few days ago.

Thanks for the information about customs duty in India.

Re: An open letter to Asus India

#10

Post by vvhn » Sat, Nov 10, 2012, 6:06 PM UTC

bishnu wrote: post #8

From what I understand, India has a fairly high import tax on electronics. FWIW, it looks like the 16 iPhone 5 retails there for ~$850.

Taxes and It is also a hedge against rupee devaluation ( which it tends to do in bursts ). Companies don't want to get caught up at wrong end of the Rupee sliding further.