An open letter to Asus India

I have to wonder if perhaps they perceive that with the wide income disparity in India, there's not a sufficiently large market for $200-$500 devices.

Let's say they can sell 15,000 at $500 each. Maybe they think that many of those buyers hardly care about the price, so why not sell 10,000 at $1000 each? Then they get $10M instead of $7.5M.

I can certainly identify with the frustration of people who do care about price, and could bear the price tag offered in other countries.

Yeah, this is the sole reason that I lugged a 20+kg (~50lbs for our American friends) Fender tube amp back with me when I returned from the US. I had to carry it on my shoulders between terminals at Chicago airport but I was game for all of that! The amp cost me about $1,000 but here in India the same amp (if you can get it) costs around $2,100! Ridiculous!

Sometimes it's customs and sometimes it's just suppliers taking advantage of the lack of consumer options. Sometimes it's both =(

Also, for those Indian friends who do not mind paying customs and still getting their items at a ~25% markup due to customs, shop and ship is a great option. I used to use it in Dubai and it was quite reliable (and they DO ship to India as well). It's like a dropbox service which gives you a US address. http://shopandship.com/ They charge about $18/kg. Happy shopping :)

It might be a good time to mention that Android tablets from Indian companies like Micromax and Karbonn are available for something like $100-120. These aren't really great on specs, but even the higher-end ones don't really cost more than 200 bucks. I know these products aren't really world-class but they're not too bad if you're looking for a decent Android tablet. Also, it's important to keep in mind that Google also sells licensed content like magazines and movies and stuff through the play store in the USA, which it can't really do in India (not yet anyway). So, it's not just the ads that are subsidizing the tablet and hence gadgets won't be available for similar prices for a long time in India.

From what I understand, India has a fairly high import tax on electronics. FWIW, it looks like the 16 iPhone 5 retails there for ~$850.

This issues is not specific to India though. I face the same problem here in Lebanon.

It is actually cheaper to buy things from Amazon, pay shipping to my forwarding company and customs here than buying from local retailers. The only problem is if there's a problem with the purchase then returns are a problem.

Factual errors: padfone2 is only released in taiwan and will be launched in other countries in december, the customs duty in India is 25-30% for "entertainment" devices which include other "luxury" items like GPUs, Tablets and kindles (I know this firsthand).

As you mentioned, it's the same for most of the companies. They sell products at atrocious premiums. Lets see what the Asus India guys do, now that this suggestion/complaint is on record.

i actually see a great opportunity for a homegrown company to fill in this demand. Asus gives no fucks? Fuck them, well roll out our own