loading
loading
The buzz around Apple’s new phone launches is global, but the best deals haven’t made their way outside the U.S. The iPhone 18 Pro and 18 Pro Max will cost more than they do in the U.S. in all other major iPhone markets, according to market intelligence firm Counterpoint Research. The two models will cost the highest in Turkey, nearly double the U.S. price, due to local taxes, Counterpoint says. In India — iPhone’s fourth-largest market and the second-largest manufacturing hub for Apple — prices will be 30% to 40% higher than in the U.S. for similar reasons. The steep price tags persist despite Apple’s continued efforts to diversify manufacturing operations to reduce dependence on China. India now accounts for about 25% of Apple’s total global iPhone production, but the new foldable model Duo is not being produced in the country. “India pricing is steep, and the difference is primarily due to the fact that initial Duo sales will not be ‘Made in India’ for some time,” Tarun Pathak, director of devices and ecosystems at Counterpoint Research, told Rest of World. “Consequently, imported units attract full import duty — making them significantly more expensive — along with GST [goods and services tax] and the impact of a weaker rupee.” The U.S., as always, continues to have the most affordable prices in the world for the latest launches. The second-cheapest market, the UAE, has a relatively smaller price tag not just for the iPhone but also for other brands and models, due to a low value-added tax at 5% and no other taxes. 25% of Apple’s global iPhone production is now from India. In China and Korea, prices skew lower not only due to different tax rates but also because of robust local market competition. “China is highly competitive with Huawei, Oppo, Vivo, while Samsung is the heavyweight in Korea,” Harshit Rastogi, senior analyst at Counterpoint Research, told Rest of World. Even the made-in-India iPhones are still largely only assembled in the country. Only 18% to 20% of electronic components originate domestically, while the rest are imported and taxed heavily. “The Pro models have even higher import dependence than the base model,” Rastogi said. “As a greater share of components becomes locally sourced in the coming years, price increases are likely to become more gradual.” In June, Apple’s former CEO Tim Cook warned that the price of existing models would go up due to a shortage of chips. After the September 9 launch event, prices of older models were increased by 21% in the U.S. and up to 41% in India.
document fetched 2026-09-16 02:56 · canonical https://restofworld.org/2026/iphone-18-pro-global-prices