Indian mobile phone makers have taken a giant‐sized bite of the local
market in the span of about two years at the expense of established global
manufacturers such as Nokia and LG Electronics Inc.
Homegrown firms, which entered the market in early 2008, captured around
14% share of the 100‐million handset market at the end of 2009, from a meagre 0.9%
at the end of March 2008.
Indian handset brands have rung in new market tunes
After grabbing an instant following in rural India, desi mobile handset
brands—names unheard of elsewhere—are seeking to capture a slice of the
lucrative urban and semi‐urban markets of India’s ever‐growing telecom pie. The
big global players have reason to be worried: this is one MNC onslaught that is
being matched (at unbelievable price points and with unique, if not quirky,
features) by Indian wannabes.
In the past 18 months, over 10 new homegrown brands—most of them led
by first‐generation entrepreneurs—have garnered a market share of about 14 per
cent, up from just 4 per cent in 2008‐09. Micromax, the leader among Indian brands,
claims sales of over 10 lakh handsets every month. Another player, Spice, from the
B.K. Modi stable, sells about 5‐7 lakh handsets a month. Karbonn, Lava, Lemon,
Zen...the list is growing rather rapidly.
Market Share (%) Change (In %
2008‐09 2009‐10 Points)
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Mobile Handset Market in India
India’s mobile handset market touched 100.9 million units in the year ended
June 2009, recording a growth of 6.7%* from 94.6 million units in the previous year
ended June 2008.
7,000 6,406
6,000
5,000
'000s of Units
4,000
3,000
2,000
1,142
1,000
0
July07-June08 July08-June09
As per Industry estimates, 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.
The growth of mobile handset market can be gauged from the fact that 27
new handset vendors entered India just in 1 quarter of 2009. India also witnessed
the launch of high‐end phones as well as entry level phones and Indian mobile
users bought nearly 700,000 high‐end/smartphones in the April‐June quarter (2009)
Nokia Market Share in India Falling
Nokia losing market share is no big news, but its a big news when the story
is happening in India or any other emerging market, where Nokia always had a
strong hold.
o Nokia market share dipped from 64% in ‘08‐09 to 52.2% in ‘09‐10.
o Samsung gained the market share – 10% to 17.4% in ‘09‐10.
o LG’s market share increased marginally from 4.5% to 5.9%.
o Losers include Sony Ericsson (market share fell from 6% to 3%), Motorola
(3.5% to 1%), ZTE (5.6% to 1.9%).
o Micromax has been one of the major winners, from nothing to 4.1%
[drive by huge advertising during IPL.
o Karbonn’s market share too increased to 3%.
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Decoding Desi Sets
Strengths
o Low cost—about 30 per cent cheaper than MNC equivalents.
o High on features, some of them better than global models.
o Will offer latest features like 3G, Android at a fraction of MNC costs.
Weaknesses
o Quality, design often not up to the mark, use primitive software.
o Servicing could be an issue, most companies are primarily importers.
o Government rules on components, materials could erode price
advantage.
Nothing micro about Micromax
In late 2007, when Micromax decided to diversify from PCO devices into the
business of mobile handsets, the PCO owner of Behrampur was the inspiration for
its first product. The company designed a battery that could last 30 days on a single
charge and give 17 hours of talk‐time. Micromax asked vendors in China and
Taiwan to manufacture 10,000 handsets with these battery specs. The X1i, priced at
Rs 2,249, was an instant hit in rural India, and Micromax’s handset business was on
its way.
Never mind the quibbling over numbers. Fact is, the company is mounting a
serious challenge to the slippery No. 2 spot in the mobile handset business. In the
past four years, the second spot has been lost by Motorola, Sony Ericsson and LG.
Samsung has held it for the past 24 months, but Micromax is catching up. “We will
be No. 2 by the end of this fiscal,” says co‐promoter Vikas Jain.
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PHONY JOURNEY
¾ 30‐DAY BATTERY PHONES
April 2008: Rs 2,249; Now: Rs 1,999 The X1i,Micromaxs first phone, had a
battery that could give 17 hours of talk time and go 30 days on a single
charge.
¾ DUAL‐SIM PHONES
July 2008: Rs 1,999‐12,999 For those who want two numbers but one handset
¾ PHONE‐CUM‐REMOTE
May 2010: Rs 2,999 A mobile that can switch TV channels and even change
the AC temperature
¾ PHONE‐CUM‐STEREO
Feb 2010: Rs 4,999 With 3D surround sound, fed by Yamaha and Wolfson
¾ BLING
Feb 2010: Rs 5,500 A big hit with women, comes with Swarovski
embellishments.
Micromax is investing Rs 100 crore to set up a manufacturing plant in
Baddi,Himachal Pradesh, to ensure its outsourcing model does not cause supply‐
side uncertainties. Production is being scaled up from 50,000 units per month to
500,000 units a month by March 2011.
Conclusion:
In the past year alone, more than 26 new mobile handset vendors have
entered the Indian mobile handset market. This includes entry of well known
electronics vendors such as Intex and Videocon as well as a number of new
entrants such as Spice Mobiles, Micromax, Karbonn Mobiles, Lava Mobiles etc
Looking at these developments, things in the Indian mobile handset market
is definitely going to heat‐up in the near future. Success of early entrants such as
Micromax & Spice Mobiles should be enough to cause jitters among the
international brands and force them to pull up their socks. They need to come up
with a strategy to countervail this local competition. Otherwise these timid looking
domestic companies will eat‐into the market share of the major companies – like
termites eating‐into wood. No longer will any company hold a monopoly over the
market and the handset market might follow the similar suite as the current mobile
operator market, which has become one of the fiercest markets in modern times.
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Mahesh Babaria
maheshb@ghallabhansali.com
Mittal Chheda
mittald@ghallabhansali.com
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