Apple has not launched its iPad here, but India is taking a big bite  

June 11, 2010

 Seek and you shall find. If Steve Jobs comes to India, he can pick up an iPad of his choice

The department of justice in the US has formally opened an investigation to determine whether Apple is refusing to sell its iPads to consumers of Asian origin, as the company is apparently trying to prevent the device from being smuggled into China, reports Consumer Affairs. But if Steve Jobs is petrified over his precious tablet being shipped to other countries where it has not been officially launched, then he sure should visit one of Mumbai's many grey markets, where Apple's product is being blatantly sold.

In one of Mumbai's famous hubs for all kinds of smuggled products, Heera Panna (in south Mumbai), the iPad is being sold. We called up one such shop, asking for an iPad. We were told that the iPad 3G (64 GB) was available for Rs70,000.

"It's not officially launched in India, but we have (the iPad). We don't sell copies, it's original. But there is no warranty. If there are any issues you will have to take it up in the US or send an email to Apple's official website," he said.

"I have started calling Heera Panna as I-Panna. When the iPad was launched in the United States, it was available a week later at Heera Panna for Rs1.25 lakh, now of course the prices have come down," Irfan Khan, a technology buff told Moneylife.

Not far from Heera Panna is Mumbai's IT hub-Lamington Road-famous for its wholesale and retail market in electronics goods. Here we called a shop and asked if it had any iPads. A person said he did have them, but only iPad Wi-Fi and the iPad Wi-Fi+3G would only be available next week. Unlike the seller at Heera Panna, he did assure us a one-year warranty. "Right now it is available. Once there is demand, we will raise the prices," he told us.

In suburban Mumbai, at Vile Parle is Alfa. We called up a shop but we received a guarded answer. We were directed to another number for details. The person answering the call told us that he had the iPad, also gave us the price range for the various iPad versions. But when we pried a little more, he banged the phone down. We tried again to ask about the warranty and other related details, but this time we were told that these details could not be revealed over the phone.

Peter Almeida, a re-seller for Apple products says that the product will be launched in India by September or October. The grey market is unsafe, cautioned Mr Almeida. "In the grey market, it is freely available but you won't get a warranty, it will be from the official place of purchase," he added.

Since the introduction of the iPad, smuggling has been a major concern for Apple. In the US, the product has been officially launched; however, there is a waiting list for the product as it is not available off the shelves. This is not the case in India, the iPad has not been officially launched, but it is gracing many grey market shelves and is ripe for the taking. "If you walk into these shops, you can see the iPads all lined up and they are being sold like hot cakes," Mr Khan said.

 — Aaron Rodrigues