Desi mobile brands clamber up fast

Desi mobile handset brands have shown their mettle by grabbing an impressive 14% market share by revenue in the competitive Indian telecom space during 2009-10.

While Nokia, the Finnish giant, occupying the top slot for many years now, has slipped to 52.2% market share by revenues from 64% a year ago, the Indian brands have risen to 14% from 3-4% earlier, according to an industry study.

Responding to the study on handsets, experts said that this trend may continue, at least in the 2G (second generation) segment. As basic mobile phone growth will be much more prominent in smaller towns and rural areas, compared to metros and big cities which are close to touching the saturation point, the masses may opt for low-priced Indian handsets.

Nokia is still the top mobile handset brand selling in India and a wide margin separates it from the second largest player—Samsung, which has a market share of 17.4%.

Last year, Samsung was a distant second with 10%, the Voice & Data study shows.

The Indian brands making the mark include Micromax, Spice, Karbonn, Lava, Lemon and Max. These locally branded handsets are, however, sourced from manufacturers in China or Taiwan, the study said. According to the survey, low prices for perceived high-end features are the main reason why the Indian brands are selling much more than before.

Industry estimates suggest that around 108 million mobile phones were sold in the country in 2009-10, resulting in sales of Rs 27,000 crore as against Rs 25,910 crore during the previous year. As for Nokia, its revenue from India handset sales was pegged at Rs 14,100 crore in 2009-10, down from Rs 16,567 crore in the previous fiscal, the study says.  

When asked for his comment on the handset survey, Indian Cellular Association (ICA) president Pankaj Mohindroo told DNA Money that the scenario is very good for the consumers. He, however, said that ICA does not look at multinationals and Indian brands as two distinct groups. “Whatever helps the consumers is good,” he said. “It is the unbranded Chinese phone that is the common enemy,” Mohindroo said.

Even as consolidation is expected among the Indian handset brands in the months to come, the going is great for now. Every month around 3 million Indian handsets are being purchased in the country, out of a total of around 11-12 million.    

The growth in the number of mobile subscribers exceeded that of handsets. In 2009-10, the mobile subscriber base grew by 192 million, against 108 million handsets. Mobile subscribers using more than one SIM is a growing trend as well.