Local smartphone makers in India with aggressively low prices are outselling worldwide market leaders Apple and Samsung, according to new data.

The sales are being driven by first-time smartphone buyers in India, according to a report published Friday by Bloomberg. The big winners have been Karbonn Mobiles India Pvt. and Micromax Informatics Ltd., which have priced their handsets below 4,000 rupees, or about $73 U.S.

In contrast, Apple's flagship iPhone 5 starts at 45,500 rupees, a price that's exceptionally high because mobile providers in India do not provide handset subsidies. Meanwhile, Samsung's Galaxy Grand is available in India for 21,500 rupees.

In a separate report filed on Friday by The Times of India, it was also noted that sales of Apple's legacy iPhone 4 âÂ a device that first launched in 2010 â are currently outpacing the iPhone 5 in India. Sales have reportedly tripled over the last week after Apple began offering a discount of at least 7,000 rupees for customers who trade in any smartphone in exchange for an iPhone 4.

With that discount, customers can get an iPhone 4 for less than 20,000 rupees. But even at that discounted price, Apple is still well above the low-end competitors in India that are currently dominating sales.

The popularity of low-priced options in markets like India, China and Brazil, where contract subsidies are not common, has helped to drive speculation that Apple could release a new iPhone model with a lower price to address those markets. Reports have suggested that Apple plans to launch a low-cost iPhone model later this year made of a plastic shell to reduce costs.