This may be the most expensive iPhone 6S Plus in the world

NOIDA, India—At the stroke of midnight, Rahul Malik finally got his hands on the iPhone 6S Plus in rose gold he had pre-ordered and stood in line for. The first thing he did? Take a selfie that left him pretty pleased — even if the phone had cost him more than four times the average per capita monthly income in New Delhi.

See also: iPhone 6S review: Is this upgrade for you?

Malik, a 29-year-old doctor, wasn't the only Apple loyalist at the Apple store in the Noida suburb outside New Delhi on Thursday night. Like at other Apple stores throughout the country, customers had lined up in anticipation of the Indian iPhone 6S launch, seemingly untroubled by the fact that the phone costs more here than just about anywhere else in the world.
"The price doesn't matter," said Malik. "If you spend more, you get better quality. If you spend less, you get inferior quality."

29-year-old doctor Rahul Malik poses with a 128 GB rose gold version of the iPhone 6S Plus.

In a city where the average monthly income after tax is a little more than Rs 20,000, or about $300, the iPhone 6S starts at Rs 62,000, or about $957, for the cheapest version in official Apple retail. The iPhone 6S Plus runs to a mind-numbing Rs 92,000, or about $1,420 for the 128 GB version.
By comparison, the retail price in the United States for the iPhone 6S begins at about $649 and maxes out at $949.

Customers lining up outside a south Delhi store for the midnight launch.

Image: Sonam Joshi

One key reason for the steep prices is significant import duties on smartphones, introduced this year in order to boost local manufacturing. The import duties benefit companies that import components but have the phones assembled in India.
Xiaomi, Motorola, Lenovo, for example, partner with Foxconn, the world's biggest contract manufacturer for electronics and a key Apple partner, to have their phones assembled in the southern state of Andhra Pradesh. Micromax and Samsung already have manufacturing facilities in India, with Samsung already manufacturing its high-end Galaxy smartphones in India.

Customers purchasing the newest iPhone at a store in south Delhi.

Image: Sonam Joshi

India is the world's third largest smartphone market after China and the United States. But it's the world's fastest growing market even outpacing China. This holds true for Apple as well. Annual growth in iPhone sales in India during the April to June quarter this year outpaced those seen in China.
“Emerging markets are growing 65%,” Apple CEO Tim Cook said during Apple's quarterly earnings call. “These numbers are unbelievable. And they’re done in an environment where it’s not the best of conditions.”

A college student in Delhi, Arushi saved her pocket money to gift a iPhone 6S for her mother, who in turn, gave her the same phone.

Image: Sonam Joshi

Still, the biggest part of the market belongs to Samsung which has captured about 23% of the market — mostly because of its affordable range of smartphones.
According to market research firm IDC, almost 50% of all smartphones shipped in India were priced below $100. Local and Chinese brands like Micromax, Intex, Lava, Lenovo, Huawei, Xiaomi and Gionee account for nearly 50% of all smartphone shipments. Apple, by comparison, has a single digit smartphone market share.
Still, to some consumers, including Malik, having something that few others have is part of the appeal.
"The phone is fantastic," he said. "It's worth every rupee."