The Google Pixel 2 and the Pixel 2 XL are coming to Indian shores. When the phones were launched at the Google event on October 4, India was included in the launch markets. Despite that, the distribution roll-out did vary country-by-country. The Pixel 2 and the Pixel 2 XL are available for purchase in markets such as the US, but in India, only pre-orders are live today for consumers, and the phones will be available at a later date.
To be specific, the Pixel 2 can be pre-ordered today, and it will be shipped on November 1, which is the date for general availability. For the Pixel 2 XL, buyers will have to wait quite a bit more, as the phone will only ship on November 15 – nearly three weeks from now. The Pixel 2 phones are an online exclusive on Flipkart, the country’s largest e-commerce platform. Google has promised that they will also be available on 1000+ offline retail stores.
In terms of pre-order offers, users pre-booking the device on Flipkart on or before October 31 will get Sennheiser Bluetooth earphones worth INR 11,990 ($185) for free. Also, Airtel users will get 120GB of additional data for six months – subject to terms and conditions. Subscribers of Reliance Jio will get “overall benefits worth INR 14,999 ($231)”. This includes 1 year of unlimited voice and SMS, 750GB data, and Jio applications “worth INR 9,999 for free”, as well as an INR 5000 additional exchange bonus at Reliance Digital stores.
Users can get INR 8000 cashback on EMI transactions using a HDFC bank credit card. Also, users upgrading the first-generation Pixel are given 50% buyback value. Buyers will also get extra INR 5000 off on exchange of select phone models. These offers are subject to terms and conditions. No cost EMIs are available at INR 3389 per month.
These offers are applicable across Flipkart and “our participating offline retail partners including Reliance Digital, Croma” and many more across India, Google said in a statement.
The Google Pixel 2 will be available in Just Black, Clearly White and Kinda Blue colours while the Pixel 2 XL will be available in Just Black as well as Black and White colours. The Pixel 2 is priced at INR 61000 ($940) for the 64GB variant, and at INR 70000 ($1080) for the 128GB variant. The Pixel 2 XL is priced at INR 73000 ($1126) for the 64GB variant, and at INR 82000 ($1265) for the 128GB variant.
It remains to be seen how well the Google Pixel 2 phones do well in India. Last year, the first-generation Pixel phones didn’t sell in huge numbers as Google struggled against Samsung and Apple which were established competitors in the high-end. This year, it must be noted that the price tags for both the Pixel 2 and the Pixel 2 are again heavily inflated in India as compared to the price tags in the US – which may reduce interest and hype for Indian users. Even though these prices include taxes, the difference in pricing is still too large.
0 comments:
Post a Comment