Apple withdraws iPhone 4 from India just four months after re-launch

After just four months in the market, Apple has withdrawn the iPhone 4 from Indian stores, according to a new report. Apple ‘re-launched’ the iPhone 4 in India earlier this year in January, hoping to rekindle sales and increase iOS user base in a largely Android country. It offered heavy discounts, buybacks, exchange offers for buyers, and made a massive marketing effort, making the iPhone 4 hard to ignore. But now the Times of India reports that the iPhone 4 will no longer be the base model in India, as Apple looks to push the iPhone 4S now. The iPhone 4 might have been removed off shelves because it wasn’t the best showcase for Apple’s iOS 7 software. It’s certainly not the best way to show first time users what an iPhone can do. However, it’s more likely that the company has run out of stock for the older phone because Apple’s distributors say it has had a tremendous impact on the market. One of them told the paper that the iPhone 4 was crucial in Apple doubling the iPhone user base in India to more than 25 lakh people in just a year. Filling up the gap in the bottom is the iPhone 4S, which seems to be the new target for Apple’s incessant sales drives in the country. Now new iPhone 4S buyers can avail a discount of up to Rs 7,500 thanks to a buyback offer. This offer means the 4S is almost at the same price as the iPhone 4, but with better hardware.