RCom to Sell Apple iPhone 5S, iPhone 5C Models at Subsidised Rates in India; Prices Start at ₹2,599

American tech giant, Apple in bid to attract the price-sensitive customers of India has struck a deal with major network carrier Reliance Communications to sell the new iPhones for subsidised rates in the sub-continent.

Reliance Communications (RCom) is reportedly offering new Apple smartphones- iPhone 5S and iPhone 5C for throwaway prices as low as ₹2,599 with a two-year contract.

Subsidised retailing of smartphone which is usually a norm in developed markets like North America, Europe and other select regions, was never tried in India before. Many network carriers shy away due to tedious process of tracking defaulters in the subcontinent as the country is home to one billion plus population.

RCom is issuing subsidised iPhones only to credit card users and also joined hands with banks such as ICICI and HDFC in a bid to counter contract-breach, reported Business Line (The Hindu).

As of now, apart from RCom, no other network carrier has come forward to offer iPhones with subsidised price in India. The new iPhone 5S will go on sale across India today (1 November). Un-subsidised model16GB is priced ₹53,500, and 32GB model - ₹62,500, whereas the 64GB variant will cost a whopping ₹71,500 and will come three colours- Gold, Silver and the Space Gray.

On the other hand, the plastic model- iPhone 5C -16GB and 32GB variants are priced ₹41,900 and ₹53,500 respectively. It will come in four colours- pink, blue, green and yellow.

RCom's iPhone 5S and iPhone 5C variants subsidised price details:

The contract is bound for two-years with fixed monthly charges.

Metal-clad, Apple iPhone 5S sports a 4.0-inch wide-screen retina display with 1136x640p resolutions having a pixel density of 326 ppi (pixels per inch) and boasts of Touch ID finger sensor on the home screen. It runs on the new iOS 7.0, powered by an advanced 64-bit architecture based A7 processor, which comes paired with a M7 motion co-processor.

Other specifications include 8.0-megapixel camera with f2.2 aperture, which is capable of recording full HD (1920x1080p) resolution video, 1.2-megapixel front-facing camera and battery, which is capable of running 10 hours (3G) of talk time.

On the other hand, Apple iPhone 5C flaunts 4.0-inch retina display with tough-plastic shell. Besides older dual-core A6 chipset, it boasts of similar camera and battery specifications as its metal-clad sibling.

Key specifications of Apple's premium iPhone 5S and Low-cost 'iPhone 5C':