Look, I think you guys just wont believe me when I say companies here overcharge us like crazy so I will try and prove it to you. Just humor me, try what I am saying and test it yourself.
Head over to Amazon.com and sign in there. Then open this page -
http://www.amazon.com/ASUS-MeMO-ME302C-A1-BL-10-1-Inch-Tablet/dp/B00DXFDHV8/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1391436522&sr=8-1&keywords=asus memo pad 10 fhd
and add the product to your cart.
This is the Asus Memo Pad 10 FHD. The reason I selected this product as a "demo" rather than the Dell Venue Pro 8 is -
1) Amazon does not ship the Venue Pro 8 to India (I tried)
2) The price of both items is almost the same ($1 difference)
3) The items are the same (ie. both are tablets) so the duty will be similar
Now proceed to checkout. Here is what you will see:-
Item price - $248.86
Item cost in INR Rs.16,504.56
Shipping & Handling** 727.53
**(Note that the item actually has ZERO shipping charges to India and is clearly shown as such
but I have included the value only so you understand the costs involved.)
Total Before Tax - 16,504.56
Import Fees Deposit - Rs.3,273.59 (this is at 20% BTW, which is more than the official rate of 16.85% quoted by letmein)
Order Total: INR 19,778.15
Also note that the $ conversion rate taken by Amazon above is a whopping Rs.66.32 even though official $ rate today was Rs.62.56.
So even if I import this item from Amazon myself the delivered cost to me at my house is under 20K (20.5k even if you include the "FREE shipping charges)!
BTW, this is Amazon selling to me, an individual at retail prices, including shipping, handling and Duty. Compare this to Dell US selling to Dell India, its wholly owned subsidiary and not some third party.
Now compare the above to Dell's offer and tell me how their pricing is fair?
Dell's product is similar.
Dell's US product price is similar.
Dell would actually import the product and pay 4% LESS import duty than Amazon charged me - so they save here as well.
Dell would pay the official $/Re. exchange rate of 62.56 and not 66.32 (Rs.3.76 extra per $) that Amazon charges.
So why should I be expected to pay 6k MORE for the product when -
1) Dell US is selling via its subsidiary Dell India. As there is no middle man/retailer involved (ie. Amazon in the above case), their transfer price to Dell India should be much lower than the price they offer to Amazon.
2) Dell could easily sell this product via their online store exclusively and offer a huge cut to us as customers that would otherwise go to retailers. If you think back to a couple of years ago, there were no Dell stores - it was only online or nothing.
3) The fact that even at this price, Amazon is making enough money on this product that they can completely ABSORB the cost of shipping & handling should be noted as well. BTW, Dell, would import this item in containers and therefore get even cheaperfreight pricing than Amazon's Rs.727 per tablet (which Amazon waives in any case).
If you think about it, the very fact that MS is currently offering this tablet for even lower at $229, I would assume Dell could easily sell it to its Indian subsidiary for $190, pay the import duty on the full retail price and still be able to sell the tablet cheap if they wanted to.
There's no way this tablet should cost them more than 18k landed in India IMO and I am being very generous with that figure.
Don't go by my word - try it yourself. What do you have to lose? You don't have to buy anything. Add to cart, click check out, select an Indian address and see for yourself. Once you have checked it out, remove the item from the cart. If you want, I will post a screen grab of my checkout screen and you can see it yourself. All the values taken above are directly from Amazon.
In short, please don't blindly believe this "customs and duty are the cause of high pricing in India" rubbish.
Its just plain GREED. Once you understand that, you will be a more informed consumer.
As for your comment on higher support costs, I agree with you but its a chicken and egg situation. How are volumes expected to go up if prices themselves are absurd?