Airtel launches iPhone 4S in Kolkata

India's top mobile phone carrier Airtel on Friday launched the much-awaited iPhone 4S smartphone in Kolkata at prices starting from Rs 44,500 -- about four times their retail price in the U.S.

Targetted at affluent buyers among India's burgeoning middle class who have been increasingly picking up iconic brands and luxury items, the phone is an upgrade to the iPhone 4 that was launched here in May this year, about eleven months after its launch in Western countries.

Both Airtel and competitor Aircel launched the 16 GB model for Rs 44,500, the 32 GB version at Rs 50,900 and the 64 GB model at Rs 57,500, not subsidising the cost of the phones unlike their western peers but not forcing mandatory data-service plans either.

"The pricing of the phones depends upon a lot of factors. Taxes and other such charges jack up the prices of the phone in India and also much of the pricing dpends upon Apple," Airtel´s West Bengal and Orissa Marketing Head Chandrashekhar Singh Chauhan said at the launch.

"But even with the way the phones have been priced, we have seen encouraging response to the phones and all previous models have always sold out. We are expecting a similar response to this version as well," he said, refusing to provide an estimate of past or aimed sales.

Despite being the world´s largest technology company, Apple is characterised by its scrawny foot print in India and according to Massachusetts- based researcher IDC, it sells just about 0.2 percent of its total smartphones in Asia´s third largest economy with the fastest growing mobile market.

The iPhone 4S, the last Apple gadget unveiled during company co-founder Steve Jobs´ lifetime, features a faster processor, a better light-sensitive camera, and voice-assiatance software ´Siri´ that responds and acts to user spoken queries and commands.

However, the steeply-priced phone faces stiff competition from those running Google´s mobile platform Android, sales of which have doubled year-on-year in most markets including India and now account for nearly 60 percent of all smartphone sales worldwide.

Both Airtel and Aircel offer discounted data plans bundled with the iPhone. While Airtel offers four plans from Rs 600 to Rs 2,000, Aircel has two separate plans for the 16 GB and 32 GB phones priced at Rs 950 and Rs 1150, respectively.

Airtel roped in Bengali actress Rituparna Sengupta for the launch of the iPhone 4S in Kolkata, who said she was "delighted" to be present at the launch of "such a wonderful product".

(Reporting by Divyanshu Dutta Roy)