Apple’s aggressive sales strategy in India may have backfired to some extent as bookings for the iPhone 6s and 6s Plus have fallen short of expectations, said some of the company’s trade partners.

Against a bold target of tripling prebookings for the devices, which will be available in India on Friday, these have risen by just 10-15% compared with last year for the previous models, the partners said. They said buyers expect lower prices online once the phone becomes widely available.

Thanks to lower online prices, Apple’s ambitious sales target for the new generation of devices could still eventually be met. Earlier this year, Apple had allowed its distributors to sell at the lowest price to the ecommerce channel, leading to a surge in sales after having followed a conservative line that meant all vendors had to hold their rates at the company-mandated level.

Adding to buyers’ hesitation on pre-bookings is price. The entry model costs Rs 8,500-9,500 more than last. Details