Would you exchange your smartphone for an iPhone?

The front page advert in one of the leading English dailies yesterday said that Apple was offering an iPhone in exchange for your old smartphone. ‘How much was Apple ready to offer for our older smartphones?’ we wondered. A round of calls and checks with the dealers listed in the ad made it very clear that the deal was a dud as we said in our analysis yesterday.

In with the old out with the new

The best trade-in offer for a Samsung Galaxy S2 was Rs 12,000, while the Galaxy S3 would get you around Rs 22,000 and the Galaxy Note 2 was worth Rs 25,000 under exchange. Some dealers were even ready to offer a Rs 8,000 discount for the Galaxy Nexus, which isn’t covered by any warranty in India. Most of them had the 16 GB iPhone 5 priced at a minimum of Rs 44,000; some went up to Rs 45,500. The price offered varied depending on the condition and age of the handset among other things. What this means is that you’d probably have to end up paying a minimum of Rs 20,000 in cash in addition to trading in your current smartphone if you wanted to ‘upgrade’ to an iPhone.

Similar deals at better rates already exist in the grey market and many buyers upgrade to the latest handset by trading in their older phone. Come to think of it, an iPhone 5 in lieu of a Note 2 or even a Galaxy S3 isn’t an upgrade. But that’s our opinion and we’d like to know if you would trade in your smartphone for an iPhone (5, 4S or 4) if it meant that you’d have to pay at least another Rs 20,000 over and above handing in your current smartphone.

If you have heard of some great deals in the market do let us know in the comments section below.