iPhone launches in India minus hysteria of the West

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At about three times the U.S. retail price, and twice the monthly salary of white-collar middle managers, the phone may still find buyers among affluent young professionals who are snapping up iconic brands and luxury items and helping fuel the Asian giant's trillion dollar economy.

A midnight launch in the Indian capital drew a small but enthusiastic crowd to Vodafone Essar, one of the two retail distributors in India, at the city's Connaught Place commercial district.

In Jaipur, capital of the desert state of Rajasthan, the local Maharaja was seen waiting in line at midnight.

Local television showed onlookers jostling for a glimpse of the phone at a mall in Gurgaon on the outskirts of the capital while retailers took out adverts for it on the front pages of some of India's biggest newspapers.

"I can't wait to show it off at school, it's way better than having a PlayStation, said Rudra Khurana, a 14-year-old Delhi high school student, standing next to his beaming father.

India is the world's fastest-growing wireless market and with nearly 300 million subscribers is the second-largest market for such services after China.

MILLIONS OF CUSTOMERS A MONTH

Operators have been adding more than 8 million customers a month, but most of them are low-paying users, who use their phone just for calling and not for data and multimedia services.

The country's new rich, however, flaunt new mobiles as symbols of status and success and smuggled iPhones have been available in the black market in India for months.

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