HomePod hits India, selling for below the regular US pricing

As rumored back in January, Apple’s Siri-powered HomePod smart speaker has gone on sale in India, a 1.35 billion people market, where it’s sold for below the regular US pricing.

The Buy button on the local product page takes the visitor to a search tool where they are able to get availability information from local resellers because the tech giant currently does not operate its own brick-and-mortar or online stores in the country.

The device is selling for 19,900 rupees, which works out to about $263. By comparison, the company sells the HomePod for $299 in the United States. In other words, Indian shoppers will be buying their HomePod at approximately ten percent below the $299 asking price in the US.

AppleInsider has more:

For comparison, a pair of AirPods Pro that retails in the United States for $249 is available in India for 24,900 rupees — or $328.75. In India, the new $399 iPhone SE is the equivalent of $561. And the $699 iPhone 11 is what would be $902.

The lower-than-expected pricing for HomePod in India is even more peculiar if you take into account that every country implements taxes differently. On top of that, the Indian government imposes steep tariffs on electronics devices not locally produced in the region.

Now, Apple currently assembles some iPhone models in India, but we haven’t found any reports that would allege local HomePod production. If Apple is indeed importing “Made in China” HomePods into India, then the speaker should cost more than its equivalent US pricing, not lower (not that we’re complaining, however).

The wireless speaker features Indian localization of English. Support for Indian English Siri voices for HomePod was implemented in the iOS 13.3.1 update which dropped in January.