Nokia, which provides wireless devices to one in six people on earth, is unlikely to capture the Indian touchscreen mobile market very soon.The company, which had announced a plan of launching half-a-dozen touchscreen models from June to December, may not meet the target.
“It is not about launching phones for the sake of it…It’s about offering both devices and services,” V Ramnath, Nokia India director-operator channels, said at the launch of N97 mini, the second touchscreen phone launched by the Finnish phone maker this year.
In comparison, its closest competitor Samsung has around a dozen touch models in India this year and has a target of taking the tally to 15 by the year-end. Nokia, too, had a target to launching six models this year, starting with its high-end N97 launched in June.
Announcing the second touch model this year, Ramnath said it is trying to launch two more models this year. “We are trying and hoping to launch them this year,” he said, when asked about two mid-range touch models exhibited by the Finnish company in India a few months ago.
Touchscreens have helped the volumes of Korean manufacturers Samsung and LG. Samsung, which occupies a third of the touch market in India compared with Nokia’s 10%, has almost doubled its market share around 7-8% a year-and-a-half ago to an estimated 12-13% now.
Each percentage point in volumes achieved through touchscreens is likely to translate into 3-4% market share in revenues due to the much higher average selling price of such phones.
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