India is just a different market and the business concept which applies anywhere else just doesn't work in India.

Foreign companies just don't understand Indian consumer psychology and year after year they are learning this lesson at a high cost.

Vodafone has learned a lot during the last 2 years, Goldman Sach is still learning in India and latest in this series is Apple. (I have repeatedly explained this concept in detail in my book "Doing Business in India and Understanding pitfalls") http://www.amazon.co.uk/Doing-Business-India-Understanding-Pitfalls/dp/0955688272/ref=sr_1_3?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1323080377&sr=1-3

Apple's latest smartphone recently arrived in India to a quiet reception compared to the hype surround its launch, with its entry price in comparison to that in the UK. Stores selling the iphone 4s in Indian cities were found to be near-empty.

The iPhone 4S is priced at Rs 44,500 onwards (even with monthly money back program from Aircel - 50 % of iphone 4S cost) in India.

It is obvious that Apple Indian team just don't understand Indian's psychology and this explains the lacklustre response at the launch in India, compared with the US and the UK where people queue up for long hours ahead of the launch of any iPhone.

Airtel launched the smartphone in the presence of media simultaneously in six cities, while Aircel launched the iPhone iPhone 4S across eight cities. Neither Airtel nor Aircel wanted to share the details on the number of units sold at iphone 4s launch.