Hot on the heels of a price cut to the iPhone 5s that saw its price
cut nearly in half, Apple has reduced prices on its latest iPhones, the iPhone 6s and 6s Plus, by
between 11 and 16 percent to bring the prices closer to US pricing. While the iPhone 5s' price was cut from 44,500 rupees ($663), it now sells for 25,000 rupees ($372). After the new price cut, the iPhone 6s is still expensive, but more realistically priced at Rs 48,500 ($732) compared to the $649 price for the same base model in the US.
Due to India's soft currency, low wages, and high import taxes, the iPhone 6s was introduced in India at a starting price of Rs 62,000 ($955 US) in October. Despite the high prices, iPhones have recently been doing better for the company, and the price cut is intended to acellerate that effect. Apple recently announced that annual revenue from India had
topped $1 billion for the first time, and noted a 44 percent increase in year-over-year sales, along with a doubling of profits. India has the potential to be another major customer for Apple in the same way that China has become one, and Apple has recently become much more aggressive in trying to increase sales in the region.
Apple TV adds HGTV, Food Network, Travel Channel to tvOS App Store
Apple appears to be taking something of a different approach to adding channels to the new fourth-generation Apple TV by having new channels simply
appear as apps in its tvOS-oriented Apple TV App Store, meaning users can simply download them to add the apps and their content to their Apple TV. Just launched in the store are three new channels --
HGTV, the
Food Network, and
The Travel Channel -- which feature on-demand episodes, clips, a live TV stream and more.
The new apps all require a sign-in from a supported cable TV provider account, such as Cox, Bright House, Time Warner, Verizon, or others. With the previous generation, the channels would simply appear on the Apple TV in a silent update. The change makes it easier for users to ignore channels they don't want, potentially reducing the number of options from the main page to suit the users' taste.