How iPhone prices in India have steadily increased since 2017

Back in 2017, Apple did the unthinkable by breaking the $1,000 ceiling for a smartphone's price when it introduced the iPhone X for $999. With states' sales taxes added in the US, the final price was more than $999.

Since then, Apple has released five phones in this category for the same price, and a larger Max or Pro Max variant for $1,099. While Americans enjoyed this flat graph, the iPhone price story has been quite different in India.

Here, the iPhone X was priced at Rs 89,990, and the iPhone Xs at Rs 99,990. The iPhone 11 Pro launched for Rs 99,990, but after revisions to the GST, and the iPhone coming in the luxury goods category, the price increased to Rs 1,06,990. Since then, the Pro lineup's prices have been headed only north.

A part of it is due to the weakening rupee — the average exchange rate for $1 was around Rs 65 in 2017, around Rs 70 in 2018 and 2019, Rs 74 in 2020 and 2021, and Rs 77 this year. Even accounting for inflation, $1 in 2017 is worth only 82 cents right now.

The iPhone lineup released on September 6 is Apple's most expensive yet, with the "cheapest" iPhone, the base 14, still priced at a steep Rs 79,990 and the most expensive — the maxed out 1TB iPhone 12 Pro Max, priced at Rs 1,89,990.

Crazy to imagine these are the prices for smartphones, but with Samsung's foldables commanding even higher prices, this trend seems to be here to stay.