2010 To See 136 mln Mobile Phones in India

Research firm Gartner has, in a latest study, set the forecast of the total sales for mobile devices in India at 138.6 million for 2010.

This marks an increase of 18.5 percent in sales compared to the overall sales of 117 million handsets in 2009. The sale is expected to hit 206 million units by 2014 if the current growth rates continue.

Gartner noted that the Indian market, which was until now dominated by the major players in the segment - like Nokia, Samsung, Sony Ericsson, LG and the likes, is slowly seeing these firms being challenged by less established players and Chinese phones. "Established global device manufacturers are losing ground due to fierce competition from local and Chinese manufacturers in the low-cost segment," said Anshul Gupta, principal research analyst at Gartner. He added, "Price remains the main criteria when buying any consumer electronic device in India, including a mobile device. Carrier strategies, lower tariffs and/or third-generation (3G) data plans will continue to shape the mobile device market in India."

Mobile phone sales in India account for almost 10 percent of worldwide phone sales and for the same reason, India is a very lucrative market for most phone makers. Currently, there are over 50 brands in the Indian market who sell their devices via legal channels. India also has a very much "active" grey market. While India is traditionally a market for low-end mobile phones, there is a highly competitive market here for mid range phones as well, Gartner noted.

Apart from this, even in the days of 3G and data, the Indian cellular market is highly voice-centric. In fact, just 10 percent of the carriers' revenue come from data services. SMS is the leader here accounting for 85 percent of revenue. Another fact which separates India, though not the only one, from other markets is that it is a prepaid market, with approximately 95 percent of existing subscribers on prepay schemes, and 98 percent of new subscribers choosing the prepaid option. This all corroborates the fact that the Indian mobile device market is driven by the lowest call rates in the world and dominated by low-cost devices, which account for 80 percent of overall sales in India in 2010.