Apple slashes margin on iPhone X in India by 30%; retailers upset

Amid high demand for the iPhone X in India despite its steep price, Apple Inc has reportedly slashed the retailers' margin on the anniversary edition iPhone by nearly 30 per cent.

Both large format chain store owners and small retailers are claiming that the company makes profit from a massive margin but does not want its retail partners to benefit, according to a report in The Economic Times.

While other brand manufacturers offer retailers a margin of 10-15 per cent on their newest mobiles, Apple was offering 6.5 per cent on the launch iPhone X. Now, the company has reduced the retailers' margin to 4.5 per cent, which is almost 30 per cent less, the report says.

Subhash Chandra, managing director at Sangeetha Mobiles, told The Economic Times that the margins have been reduced from 6.5 per cent to 4.5 per cent and it further reduces to mere 1.5-2 per cent if the customer opts to pay by card for the iPhone X.

''Apple gives the least margins … how on earth do they expect the retailer to work for them for free - our overheads are around 10 per cent,'' Chandra said.

According to the report, India's leading brands Samsung and Xiaomi offer more than double the margin that Apple offers - around 12-15 per cent. Other mobile phone manufacturers, especially Chinese brands such as Oppo and Vivo, offer higher than usual margins to retailers to gain market share.

Many retailers have stopped stocking iPhones due to lack of control on retail pricing. The chief executive of another top retail chain in India said that they had done this across 300 stores due to the cut in margins.

Apple declined to comment on the margin cuts and supply issues in India.