Apple Will Stop Selling Older iPhones, And 6S Will Be The Most Inexpensive iPhone You Can Buy

Update: Apple has since clarified they're not raising prices, they're simply removing the iPhone 6 from India circulation. That means the base entry model for Indians will be the slightly more expensive iPhone 6s. There is no blanket price hike in the works.

India has long-since been a challenging market for Apple. It's iPhones, being as premium as they are, are too expensive for many Indian consumers to indulge in.

And to reset its India story, Apple is taking some steps to pull old unsold stock of iPhones from stores and emphasize its premium position in the India market.

Speaking to the Economic Times, Apple executives detailed their plan of action to deal with low sales in India. Apparently the company will stop selling their more affordable iPhone 6 in the country, meaning the iPhone 6s will be the only entry-level model available. Wistron has been assembling the devices here so far, though they recently received permission from the Indian government to locally manufacture more premium iPhones.

The reason given at the time for Apple to produce the iPhone SE, and later the iPhone 6 and 6s, was to bring some of its more affordable devices to India for cheaper. Of course, they overlooked that fact that while they were cheaper relative to other iPhones, India has no shortage of cheap Android smartphones that are much more capable.

So now, the company wants to re-establish its "premium" roots, and the sense of exclusivity that comes with it. In accordance with that, the iPhone 6s will be the new starting point for India, which is about Rs 6,000 more than the iPhone 6. It's likely Apple will also remove that device from shelves eventually as well. This is the same tactic they used for the iPhone SE.

"It wants to reinforce the brand's 'premiumness' in the Indian market and increase average selling prices," one Apple executive claimed.

They'll also reportedly be reducing the number of outlets in India that sell the iPhone, ending ties with smaller stores less than 350 to 400 square feet,and selling less than 35 devices per month. Instead, they're pushing for more Apple Authorized Resellers larger than 500 square foot with each trade partner running more than one. The idea is to have fewer partnerships with more productivity.

That likely also means the most premium iPhones will have a better priority for India arrivals on launch. We've already discussed before, how Apple has its work cut out in the price-sensitive Indian smartphone market.

Apple's new move to become even more "premium" in the India market will be interesting to see in terms of how it unfolds. Only time will tell, of course.