Christmas comes early: iPhone 6S, 6S Plus just got cheaper in India

Apple has slashed prices of its latest iPhone 6S and 6S Plus in India by up to 16% to ramp up flagging sales after the Diwali season closed amid intense competition in the world's fastest-growing smartphone market.

According to an ET report, which quotes four giant retailers, the price of both the premium smartphones has fallen by 11-16% and now ranges between ₹52,000 and ₹55,000 and the price cuts are across all variants - 16 GB, 64 GB and 128 GB — of both models.

The move comes barely two months after it launched the models in India and close on the heels of a similar price cut for the iPhone 5S.

This is probably the most significant quarter in the history of the Cupertino-based company as it tries to maintain the high profits it reported in the last quarter.

Apple, driven by global sales of the iPhone 6 and 6S, posted earnings of $11.1 billion on $51.5 billion revenue, or $1.96 per share, beating analyst projections of $10.7 billion on $51.1 billion in revenue. That compares with $8.5 billion in profit on $42.1 billion in revenue last year.

"The average difference in prices of all iPhone 6s and 6s Plus devices between launch time and now is about 15%," a top executive at a national retailer was quoted as saying. The move also makes it easy now for consumers to upgrade to these devices from their older Apple products.

Apple imported almost 320,000 of the latest iPhones in October in India, sparking hopes of its best ever quarter. But shipments have slumped since then and latest data suggest imports of new models fell 62% to 120,000 in November, ET reported.