Nokia sweeps away the Indian market
Posted on May 17th, 2008 | Filed under: Nokia
“The early bird catches the worm.” Well, Nokia can now relate to this proverb very well after being estimated as the number 1 handset industry in India.
Nokia has managed to sweep across a whopping 75-80% of the mobile phone market in India. Being the early arriver definitely has its own advantages! The Finnish maker has a mind-boggling 72,000 retail outlets out of the 79,000 present in India.
In India, Nokia handsets have largely been perceived as being the sturdiest ones with long-life durability. Also with the brand being so popular in India, more than half of the population is well-versed with its features. This image has helped Nokia strengthen its grip in the Indian handset scenario. The famous handsets from Nokia belong to the low-end categories which are known for their low-prices and high durability. These are some of the features which are always desired by the Indian mentality as an average Indian demands for an affordable yet stylish and high quality product. Nokia definitely seems to be connecting India better!
Nokia is trusted for its quality so much so that Reliance was compelled to sell their CDMAs with a subsidy of about U S$10 to remain active in the competition. Motorola completely failed to sell off their $25 low cost handsets. All this even when the Nokia handsets are not affiliated with the network operators who sell the phones along with the GSM SIM card and connection!
However, Motorola doesn’t seem to lag behind in the race as it takes the second place in competition followed by Sony Ericsson as third. Though not much, but some dip in the Nokia handsets has been noticed in the past three months as the sale of its CDMA handsets fell from 65% to 60% and sale of GSM fell from 80% to about 72%. This is because the Indian consumer is now looking for something different and uncommon to stand out of the crowd of Nokia users. This fact will definitely seem to worry Nokia as its share worldwide is just 36% with its biggest consumers being Indians.
The observations were made by analysts from Merrill Lynch who had recently made a visit to India.
