Handset market: Koreans, locals boost share
22-06-2010
Low prices for perceived high-end features is key in India's Rs 270 billion handset market
While Nokia remains the market leader in Indian handsets, its share came down to 52.2 per cent in 2009-10, from 64 per cent the year earlier, according to a study by Voice&Data. Samsung's market share increased to 17.4 per cent from 10 per cent, while LG had a share of 5.9 per cent as against 4.5 per cent the year earlier.
Homegrown handset makers like Spice, Micromax and Karbonn captured 14 per cent of the Indian market in 2009-10. They had a share of just 3-4 per cent the previous fiscal.
While Micromax had a 4.1 per cent market share by revenue, Spice and Karbonn had a share of 3.9 per cent and 3 per cent respectively. Lava had a share of 1.1 per cent, Lemon 1 per cent and Max had a 0.9 per cent share, according to the study
The study was based on revenue of telecom equipment suppliers, including GSM and CDMA handset vendors.
The key to the market has become "low prices for perceived high-end features. You get all-QWERTY Blackberry lookalikes complete with trackball, and even dual-SIM phones for Rs 5,000" Voice&Data Chief Editor Prasanto K Roy said.
"We saw demand rising for dual-SIM phones last year, but the market leaders had few offerings there. And while Nokia has many low-cost models, they are relatively sparse on features," he adds.
However, the low-cost handsets may fall short on applications, functionality, user interface and experience, and, often, quality of construction, solidity and robustness, he adds.
The mobile handset market grew 4.2 per cent by revenue during FY 2009-10 compared to 7.9 per cent in 2008-09.
Around 108 million mobile phones were sold in the country during 2009-10, adding up to Rs 27,000 crore sales, up from Rs 25,910 crore the previous year.
While Nokia remains the market leader in Indian handsets, its share came down to 52.2 per cent in 2009-10, from 64 per cent the year earlier, according to a study by Voice&Data. Samsung's market share increased to 17.4 per cent from 10 per cent, while LG had a share of 5.9 per cent as against 4.5 per cent the year earlier.
Homegrown handset makers like Spice, Micromax and Karbonn captured 14 per cent of the Indian market in 2009-10. They had a share of just 3-4 per cent the previous fiscal.
While Micromax had a 4.1 per cent market share by revenue, Spice and Karbonn had a share of 3.9 per cent and 3 per cent respectively. Lava had a share of 1.1 per cent, Lemon 1 per cent and Max had a 0.9 per cent share, according to the study
The study was based on revenue of telecom equipment suppliers, including GSM and CDMA handset vendors.
The key to the market has become "low prices for perceived high-end features. You get all-QWERTY Blackberry lookalikes complete with trackball, and even dual-SIM phones for Rs 5,000" Voice&Data Chief Editor Prasanto K Roy said.
"We saw demand rising for dual-SIM phones last year, but the market leaders had few offerings there. And while Nokia has many low-cost models, they are relatively sparse on features," he adds.
However, the low-cost handsets may fall short on applications, functionality, user interface and experience, and, often, quality of construction, solidity and robustness, he adds.
The mobile handset market grew 4.2 per cent by revenue during FY 2009-10 compared to 7.9 per cent in 2008-09.
Around 108 million mobile phones were sold in the country during 2009-10, adding up to Rs 27,000 crore sales, up from Rs 25,910 crore the previous year.
