mobile handset research

7/31/2019 Mobile Handset Research

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Mobile handset market in India to witness tremendousgrowth in next 5 years [Report]

The Indian mobile handset market is expected to continue its upward trajectory if a recent

report by Frost and Sullivan is to be believed. The report continues to portray the happysentiments in the mobile industry in the country.

India has reached the coveted position of the second largest mobile handset market in theworld after China. And it is expected to become even bigger with 208.4 million phonesbeing shipped by 2016 at a CAGR of 11.4% between the period of 2010 2016.

For people who were wondering whether the 2G scam resulted in the destruction of smallscale players, Frost and Sullivan thinks that, there would be a threefold increase in thenumber of telecom participants by next year. In short, as of last year India had about 68mobile handset players , and if the report is to be believed it will go above 200!

This would result in further competition and squeezing of profit margins; though Ipersonally wonder on the survival ability of these operators without proper infrastructureand network towers. Operators like Etisalat, Videocon, Uninor have struggled in everyway to stamp their authority in the Indian market.

Another interesting part of the survey is the increasing use of smartphones by the Indianconsumer. While the revenues in the urban areas are reaching saturation point, manymobile manufacturers like Micromax, Karbonn etc. have started manufacturing phonesfor the rural and semi urban areas too. These phones are replete with all the basicfeatures along with special features like insect repellants etc.

As was thought and has been discussed threadbare, the proliferation of Web 2.0 andInternet surfing is expected to rise across the country with the increase in use of smartphones.

This is the reason the mobile handset market expects the revenue to rise from US $255billion to US $350 billion. The smartphone market is expected to grow tenfold to 30Million units by 2016 from just about Rs 2.9 million units currently.

Another important analysis of the survey is the fact that more than 70% of the Indianpopulation still consumes only voice services . But with the onset of 3G and cheaperdata usage options, this is expected to change in the near future.
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India Smartphone Market Huge future potential!

2010 has undoubtedly been the year of smartphones The all in one device that takes care of literallyevery digital need of a youth, be it Email, Social Networking, photography, chatting, messaging,gaming. You name it and todays smartphones have it in them!

Having said that, India has lowest penetration of smartphones amongst youth in the world. Although,actual number of smartphones may be high, thanks to huge mobile subscriber base.

Lets look at some of the findings of recent whitepaper released by Nielsen Mobile Youth Aroundthe World and understand the kind of market potential we have for Smartphones in Indian Market.

Smartphone Penetration amongst Indian Youth

Interestingly, of all the Indian youth who have mobile phones, only 10 percent have smartphonesand 90 percent of them still have feature phones . Density of smartphones amongst youth is highestin Italy where 47 percent of them carry smartphones. The report also reveals that most young peoplewith mobile phones choose their own devices and only 16 percent youth go by their parents choiceof the phone.
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Smartphone Penetration Male Vs Female

Among the youth, who have smartphones, only 20 percent comprise of females, again which is oneof the lowest in the world. Even our neighbouring country China, has about 40 percent femalesmartphone users. While in the U.S, female Smartphone users (55 percent) out number their male

counterparts (45 percent).Price Most important mobile purchase Driver

India is a price conscious country Infact, about 4 out of 10 Indian youths have sighted that as theprimary purchase driver, which is more than any other country. Incidentally, in China, Form andshape of the phone takes precedence when choosing a smartphone.

Smartphone Market Demand

In my opinion, 90 percent of all user want to move to Smartphones , given the kind of features it

offers, but smartphones is a much newer phenomenon in India as compared to rest of the world andhence such low penetrations. The sales of smartphones actually saw tremendous growth only in lastfew months, specifically due to fall in prices of phones. Till start of this year most of the smartphonescost above 15k which was out of budget of most of Indians, especially younger people.

But the scenario has changes drastically, thanks to local Indian brands like Micromax, Zen, Maxxand others, who have bought smartphones in every ones reach. Today one can buy a decentsmartphone for as low as 3000 rupees (about 60 70 USD).

Smartphone Market Potential in India

But, still the market potential remains huge 80 percent of Smartphone market is still there for thetaking (Imagine the numbers we are talking here). There will be two main factors that will decidehow soon the Smartphones proliferate. The price of the handset and cost of Data usage.

Apart from handset prices, Telecom Operators have to ensure that cost of data transfer (especially 3Ggoing forward) has to be affordable, otherwise smartphones will always be looked as glorifiedbulkier feature phones!
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Number of Mobile Handset players in India balloons to 68 !

How many times till a couple of years back when you used to go to any mobilestore and say Bhaiya naya mobile dekhana , were you shown Nokia? As onearticle puts it, Nokia ruled the mobile handset market till a couple of yearsback like the colossus. With over 70% market share, no one had the guts to doanything to it. It had become somewhat of generic name for mobile handsetsmuch to the dismay of other brands.

But then the slide happened and its happening fast. In a recent study by the IDCon the number of handsets sold during Q3 of 2010, Nokia is still the leader but haslost a further 5% market share from Q2 to be at 31.5%. Its 36% market share in Q2was itself a 20% drop compared to the same quarter last year. The problems withNokia are its inability to develop a good smartphone or ones which have dual or

trip SIMs and other such unique facilities.

Though it has tried its Nokia N8, it hasnt really set the market on fire. At the topend of the market Nokia has had to face the music from Apple and Blackberrywhile at the lower end Micromax, Lava, Spice and others have been breathing at itsneck.

As of today, Nokia, GFive, Samsung, Micromax and Spice were the top fivemobile handset brands in India.
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Would you believe that India now has over 68 mobile handset players, whichhas nearly doubled in last 3 quarters alone.

They newer players now account for 41.2% of the total shipment of the phones.With prices starting from 3,000 for a smartphone and features like longer batterylife, dual and triple SIMs, colour display, FM radio etc., who wouldnt think of itas a smart buy? They have targeted the semi urban and rural populationfantastically.

The likes of Micromax, Karbonn, Maxx and others have have literally changed themobile play in India with their value-for-money products . The fierce growth inMobile subscribers can be partially attributed to the low cost mobile brands whohave made it affordable to even the lowest strata of the society!

Samsung has slipped from its second position in Q2 to be at the third position withan 8.2% market share. But with its slew of tablet products, increasing itsmanufacturing capacity across China, Vietnam and India, it aims to become thenumber 1 mobile manufacturing company in the world. The fact that it can easilymanufacture displays, processors, memory chips etc. compared to its competitorsputs it at a unique advantage.

The total number of handsets shipped has increased from 25 million in Q2 to about40 million in Q3. The final figure for the year is expected to reach about 155million handsets which include 9 million smartphones. Android OS has gained

increasing acceptance in the smartphone market with 19 handsets using it in Q3compared to just 2 during the same time last year.

Smartphones have become a big hit because people are having higher disposableincomes and this has increased their propensity to spend. There is also a verypercentage of people who are gadget freaks who are loving this era.

The Indian mobile handset market is finally getting competitive with a multitude of players coming up with their products.

It would be interesting to see if Nokia still keeps the Leader tag by the end of 2011, or will it buckle up to these fast growing new entrants ?
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Low-Cost Android Smartphones Will Seize 80% of Market in Africa, India,and China

The Android OS has taken the smartphone world by storm. In just two years, Android has become the topsmartphone OS worldwide. In the US, Android reached #1 in smartphone OS sales because wireless

operators that did not carry the iPhone chose Android as their smartphone solution. Yet, the Androidhandsets that are selling well in the US and Europe are not the same low-cost Android handsets sellingelsewhere in the world. New In-Stat (www.in-stat) research forecasts that low-cost Android handsets willreach a penetration rate of 80% of total smartphones in Africa, India, and China by 2015.

The low-cost Android smartphone segment is comprised primarily of smartphones released with Android2.2 or 2.3, since these versions are a good blend of features with modest memory and processor usage.The low-end low-cost smartphones generally stick with EDGE and processors running at 600MHz orlower, because a single-core EDGE chip sells for well under $10. For our purposes, low-cost meanssmartphones that are $150 or less. Smaller phone manufacturers will sometimes purchase from the graymarket where component manufacturers typic ally don't pay licensing fees, royalties, or taxes for theproducts they produce. Early competitors in the market include Huawei, MicroMax, Motorola, Samsung,

Spice, and ZTE.

"All-in-all, the way that Android has spread worldwide, low-cost Android will also spread worldwide.But, where most Android phones are being sold in developed regions of the world, low-cost Android willflourish in emerging areas; however, it will face heavy competition in some regions, says Allen Nogee,Research Director. Samsung has bada, and Nokia is developing Meltemi. In addition, Microsoft hasstated that it wants to sell Windows Phone in these developing regions as well and could aggressivelylower prices to gain market share. While Google profits in these regions from advertising revenue, Nokiaand Samsung benefit the old- fashioned way, by selling hardware.

Recent In-Stat research found:

Unit shipments for low-cost Android smartphones will approach 340 million worldwide in 2015. The low-cost Android handset segment will cause some fragmentation in the Android platform. The Ice Cream Sandwich (Android 4.0) step-up in memory and processor demands makes this

release less attractive for low-cost Android devices.

Less is More: The Worldwide Emergence of Low-Cost Android Smartphones looks at the history of thelow-cost smartphone market, and how we got where we are today. The report looks at Android in-depthand the problems that Google faces as it moves into the low-cost arena. The obstacles are also exploredin-detail, as are the markets where low-cost Android smartphones will dominate.

Forecasts include:

Smartphone shipments Android smartphone shipments Low-cost Android smartphone shipments by region Bill of materials (BOM) for processor, touchscreen, other components Country-by-country view of the smartphone market

This research is part of In- Stats Smartphones & Handsets service, which provides analysis and forecastsof the market for mobile communications and computing devices, including cell phones, smartphones,MIDs, tablets, mini-notes/netbooks, and notebooks.
http://www.instat.com/catalog/Wcatalogue.asp?id=66#IN1104911WHhttp://www.instat.com/catalog/Wcatalogue.asp?id=66#IN1104911WHhttp://www.instat.com/catalog/Wcatalogue.asp?id=66#IN1104911WH


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How Nokia fell from dominance and got pinned down bycompetitors

No company sold handsets better than it did. Not in India. It customised products as McDonald'sdid with aloo tikki and sold them like Lux soaps in neighbourhood stores. This disruptiveinnovation landed Nokia India almost 60% of the handset market by 2005. The brand became asynonym for the product. Indians didn't go to buy a mobile phone. They went to buy a Nokia.

Now many of them don't. Increasingly, Indians go to buy a Nokia and come out with aBlackBerry, Samsung or Micromax. According to the latest 2010 (January-September) report byIDC, a provider of market intelligence, Nokia's market share was 56.2% in 2008 and 32.9% in2010. The brand has lost its X factor.

Nokia India, however, disagrees, claiming its market share in CDMA and GSM handsets today is52.2%. Technology research firm Gartner puts the 2010 figure at 30.3%. GfK-Nielsen estimates

it at 44.8%. Nokia says the IDC report does not include shipments from Nokia's manufacturingfacility in Chennai. Also, it says that IDC's statement that most of its shipments from theChennai plant were exports was "inaccurate and untrue".

"IDC and Gartner are reputed global firms which have a history of tracking numbers and trends.We do extensive work on the handset industry and we often use their reports," says JaideepGhosh, executive director, KPMG India.

But Gautami Srinivasan, 19, hadn't given up Nokia on the basis of IDC or Gartner reports. ADelhi-based beautician, Srinivasan wanted a basic phone. Features didn't matter, price did. Whatbetter than a low-end Nokia?

"The salesman told me that Micromax Q1 had a dual SIM, loud speakers, expandable memoryand an ABCD [Qwerty] keypad. It was cheap but looked expensive," she says.

Smartphone users have found different reasons to convert. Sweta Kumar, a 28-year-oldconsultant, was bored with her toy and wanted to buy a Nokia C7. But she ended up buying aSamsung Ace. The salesman at the multi-brand store pushed Samsung as "the top brand insmartphones" and the "leader in touch technology". What nailed the deal was the phone'sAndroid operating system.

"The apps on Android are unmatched. They can even enhance the features of my phone," says

Kumar. It helped that at Rs 15,500, Galaxy Ace was Rs 2,500 cheaper than the C7.

Beyond the numbers what is significant is the fact that Nokia India market share almost halved ata time when the market grew rapidly. GSM subscribers alone grew five-fold to 543 millionbetween 2006 and 2010.

Across all market segments, Nokia is playing catch up from the front. Globally, everyone knowshow this came to be. The leaked memo by Nokia's global CEO Stephen Elop made the reason


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official: Apple and Android. The first has creamed them in high-end phones by creating a newsegment of smartphone users: "the iPhone fan club". The other married utility with entertainmentto create an efficient operating platform loaded with mobile apps.

But iPhones have a small presence in India and most Android phones still cost more than Rs

10,000. Without its global rivals, Nokia ought to have little reason for worry. They also have atrump card: the first mover advantage. No handset maker knows India better than Nokia.

So why did Nokia India lose its stronghold? There is no official note on this one. But the answersare critical. After all, India is Nokia's second-largest market by volume.


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Not Made For India

2004. That year Nokia had come up with a dust resistant, anti-slip phone with a torch. The Westturned up its nose at this combination of features. But Nokia 1100 proved to be a bestseller inIndia, with revenues crossing well over $1 billion. The formula for success: technology adapted

to local needs.Cut to 2008. The Indian market was abuzz with dual SIM phones. New companies like SpiceMobile and Micromax went on a marketing blitzkrieg. Nokia followers had to wait until August2010 to get one.

By 2010, dual SIMs constituted 38.5% (IDC data) of the handset market in India. Nokia had nofinger in the pie. "About 50% of our sales is dual SIM phones. Most of them are non-Nokiabrands," says Amit Chopra, owner of a multi-brand retail outlet in east Delhi.

Dual SIM is just one of the phenomena that Nokia missed. There are plenty others: low-cost

Qwerty phones, long battery life and touch screen smartphones, to name a few. Meanwhile,companies like Karbonn, Micromax and Zen closed in to fill the gaps and increased theircollective market share from under 1% to 33.2% in the past two years.


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Indian Tablet PC Market to Surpass USD 800 Million by 2016

6 February, 2012

With a new concept in the consumer electronics field, and a young tech-savvy population of India TheTablet PCs sales are bound to grow many folds in next five years

The Tablet PC market in India is one of the fastest growing markets around the globe. With itsintroduction in July 2010 in India, the market has witnessed huge growth in terms of demand, shipmentsand emergence of various players, national & international, in the industry. The figures and the growthrate indicate that the Tablet PC market is still a niche market in India and has huge potential in the comingyears.

Such phenomenal success of Tablet PC in India can be credited to the fact that Tablet PC, loaded withalmost all the features of a Laptop and a notebook, is handy and friendly to use. Moreover some TabletPCs are also available with a feature of making a live call, which makes it a mini laptop cum phone.

Though the major Tablet PCs in India continue to be at high cost, yet according to TechSci Research theprices are all set to drastically fall in the near future owing to the emergence of various low cost TabletPCs. The glaring example of such a phenomenon is the much talked about Aakash Tablet by Datawindand IIT Rjasthan which claims itself to be the cheapest tablet in the world.

There are many new players which are in the development phase of Tab let PCs specifically designed for the Indian consumers. In the coming years, consumers will have a wide range of Tablet PCs to choosefrom. There will be many players in the industry and the shift from laptops and notebooks to Tablet PCswill strongly contribute to the robust demand of Tablet PC in India which will in turn continue to drivethis industry. India is a price sensitive market and the only challenge for the Tablet PCs growth will bethe prices for the international players. With increasing penetration of computing devices in India, thesales of Tablet PCs will definitely increase many folds making it a USD 800 Million market by 2016

said Karan Chechi, Research Director with TechSci Research.

India Tablet PC Market Forecast & Opportunities, 2016 gives a detailed and unprejudicedoverview on the Tablet PCs market in India. The report has critically evaluated all the aspects related tocomputing devices market and helps the reader to get a complete overview on the latest trends and themarket potential of Tablet PCs in India. This study should be helpful for PC Vendors, Channel Partners,Application Developers, Processor Manufacturers and other stakeholders of Tablet PC industry.


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Mobile handset industry: Is change the name of the game?

Android and iPhone, considered outsiders from a mobile industry perspective were able torevolutionise the industry and have created immense positive network externalities.

Who could have predicted the rise of newcomers Google or Apple in the mobile arena and fall of thetraditional market leaders, a few years back? In fact, the top five smartphone vendors have changeddramatically over the last few years.

Changing market dynamics

The mobile industry's structure has witnessed unprecedented and tumultuous changes over the past twodecades as the trendsetters and leaders have rapidly changed.

Up until a few years back, the mobile industry was controlled by the handset manufacturers or OEMssuch as Nokia, Sony Ericsson, Samsung etc on one hand and the mobile operators on the other hand.

Japan, long considered a top technology innovator and a pioneer in the mobile industry has suddenly seenits leadership position eroding.

Although Japan has quite a few firsts to its credit like the concept of App store and mobile money, theJapanese mobile industry of late has been struggling to keep pace with the Apple-Google effect.

The sheer size of the mobile phone market drives every other hardware or software vendor to believe thatthey have a high chance of being successful.

This has led to creation of many software phone platforms, by companies with deep mobile industryexpertise and through consortium.

However, a few met with limited success and rest simply vanished. Google's Android, the open sourcesoftware platform is perhaps the most successful thus far.

In general, why is the smartphone market important for OEMs and operators? While smartphones offermaximum margin to OEMs, it also helps in increased data revenue for the operators.

Content providers also enjoy direct benefits due to higher consumption of services and applications bysmartphone users.

Apple-Google double impact

The launch of Apple's iPhone and Google's Android has created an unprecedented double-impact on themobile industry - iPhone is still the undisputed reference for a smartphone and has created an"aspirational value" among business users and consumers alike.

In contrast, Google's Android has ensured availability of hundred of phones at affordable prices.

Apple's user experience was a game changer, considering that many OEMs over the past 15 years failedin creating a compelling touch driven user experience. Android has played a key role in drasticallyreducing smartphone prices to less than Rs 5,000.
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Android has significantly reduced engineering and R&D cost, thus lowering the entry barriers in the OEMspace.

No wonder the Indian OEMs like Micromax, Lava etc provide tough competition to established players inthe Indian market.

The semiconductor companies have also enabled this change as they seek to win market share and also becompetitive in offering comprehensive solutions to OEMs.

Reduction in hardware and semiconductor costs have also helped in bringing down the prices of phones.

Apple is credited for being vertically integrated - offering applications and content to its users through theApp store and the recently launched iCloud service.

Google's App store too experienced tremendous success. This has resulted in a huge disruption in themarket allowing users to personalize their phones from lakhs of Applications in the App store.

Earlier, users had to depend exclusively on their operator to download Apps/content and this was workingnicely for the operators' walled-garden approach.

Large global operators on their part, continue to believe in providing quality apps to its subscribers, butwith limited success.

Traditionally, a phone's life-cycle from concept to realisation has taken roughly 18 to 20 months. Over thepast couple of years, the cycle has shrunk by more than half.

Newer models hit the market every few months. The drastic reduction in the phone creation cycle hasnaturally reduced the number of differentiating features among phones. Increasingly productdifferentiation among the various mobile phones is reducing by the day and the Mobile market is looking

more like TV and other consumer electronics market.

Challenges/ opportunities and more changes!

With most OEMs under severe margin pressure, such a hyper competitive environment is certain towitness more consolidation, allowing only the strong and truly innovative ones to survive.

Traditional hardware manufacturers can certainly cause disruption, but the challenging times are here tostay in the OEM space.

Operators, on the other hand may eventually have to remain contented being a data-pipe provider (akalandline broadband providers).

As the role of mobile devices becomes ever more important in people's lives, the platform powering thedevices will play a critical role. Hence, more platforms like Android will emerge, however it is unlikelythat Android will be displaced in the near future.

RIM (creator of Blackberry) is expected to push its platform aggressively. However, Microsoft's mobileplatform may emerge as a dark horse, especially as Nokia has been able to move faster than before.


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Another challenge that has come to the fore is patents. Patent and royalties have always been part of themobile Industry, but only recently has the patent war been so public.

In the past most patent disputes have been relatively low key affairs resolved issues behind closed doors.

In order to strengthen their position, over the last few quarters companies have made significantinvestment in acquiring available patents from Nortel and IBM, Google buying Motorola etc.

With the on-going cases around the Android platform, and Apple's recent successful patent lawsuitagainst HTC, it's clear that the patent war is not going to subside anytime soon.

It is proven beyond doubt that in such a market, Innovative companies with strong IP portfolio have adistinct edge.

Interacting with the mobile through gestures or tracking eye movement may re-define the market. WillGoogle's future technology - wearable computers bring about the ultimate disruption in the market.

Apple has tried to maintain the stickiness quotient with its customers and there-by retaining its loyalcustomer base, however, will Apple be able surprise its users with innovative offerings every year?

Will Apple become a network service provider (MVNO), thereby creating an even tighter verticalintegration and provide everything from handsets, network access, content to storage for its users?

The current social networking wave would continue, however, the next wave could well be mobile-moneyor mobile wallet. Will other countries be able to repeat Japan's success in mobile money?

Summing-up, the power equation in the mobile industry has shifted away from operators/ OEMs toplatform providers. Android and iPhone, considered outsiders from a mobile industry perspective wereable to revolutionise the industry and have created immense positive network externalities.

Due to the dynamic nature of this industry, anyone within or outside the mobile ecosystem now have anequal chance of changing the mobile Industry.

Amidst all the changes and challenges faced by the industry, for the average mobile phone user, the goodtimes are here to stay!


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15 best mobile apps in the world

App : Pulse NewsFor : AndroidRanking : 1

Cost : Free

Pulse News offers Android owners a visually pleasing way to catch up on current affairs andother web content, on and offline. Feeds are collated into a colorful and interactive mosaichomescreen, according to Mashable.Sharing is simple, and the apps hosts read later options via Instapaper, Read it Later, Evernoteand Google Reader, it says

App : GlympseFor : AndroidRanking : 2

Cost : Free

New location-sharing service Glympse lets people know where you are - whether that's a staticlocation or on the road - via email, SMS, Facebook or Twitter, according to Mashable.With timing options addressing privacy concerns, it's a useful app for both work and play, itsays.

App : AirSync by doubleTwistFor : AndroidRanking : 3Cost : $4.99

Used in conjunction with the free doubleTwist desktop app, this app lets you sync your iTunesmusic, videos and photos from your PC to your phone, wirelessly over your home Wi-Finetwork, according to Mashable.

App : Camera ZOOM FXFor : AndroidRanking : 4Cost : $4.99

This is a comprehensive camera app for the Android platform. As well as the cool filters, frames

and vignettes we've come to know and love in such apps, Camera ZOOM FX takes functionalityfurther with special effects such as tilt shift, distortion and composites, according to Mashable.

App : Beautiful WidgetsFor : AndroidRanking : 5Cost : $2.89


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One thing Android owners have over iOS users is tonnes more customization options. This appmakes the most of them with a huge variety of ways to personalise your phone, according toMashable.As well as skins and themes, there's a wealth of widgets for the phone's clock, date display,toggle widgets and weather reports, it says.

App : FlipboardFor : iOSRanking : 6Cost : Free

Combining content from websites, blogs and social networks, Flipboard has been a big successstory.Available for both the iPhone and the iPad, the "social magazine" is credited for changing theway people access online content, arguably making more of a stir in the digital publishingindustry than paid-for, big name launches from established publishers, according to Mashable.

App : SnapseedFor : iOSRanking : 7Cost : $4.99

This post-process photo editing app is available for both the iPhone and the iPad, but on thetablet's larger screen it really shines, according to Mashable.Awarded "iPad App of the Year" by Apple, Snapseed will help you get the most out of yourimages with auto-enhancement edits, the ability to enhance certain areas, special effect filtersand more, it says.

App : PathFor : iOSRanking : 8Cost : Free

While major mainstream success is a ways off - although Path has seen about 1.5 milliondownloads to-date - the relaunch of this smart-journal-come-social-network was well-received,according to Mashable.Offering both a digital diary and a way of sharing with a limited group of close friends, Pathappeals to privacy-aware, socially savvy consumers, it says.


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App : InstagramFor : iOSRanking : 9

Cost : FreeApple's "iPhone App of the Year" combines creative photography fun with social networking. Itsgreat results and ease of use means it's responsible for too many shots of ourbreakfasts/cats/boring commutes, according to Mashable.With Instagram you can snap an image, process it with one of the app's awesome filter effects,and then share to not just the Instgram community, but to your friends, family and contacts onwider social networks, it says.

App : StampedFor : iOS

Ranking : 10Cost : Free

Innovative startup Stamped is a recommendation service with a difference. You can "Stamp"anything from films to food, see your friends' Stamps and build up an archive of things you love,to refer back to later, according to Mashable.Stamped takes the clutter and anonymity out of recommendations, while keeping things privateto the wider public, it says.

App : TangoFor : Windows Phone 7

Ranking : 11Cost : Free

Somewhat bizarrely beating Microsoft-owned Skype to the WP7 platform, Tango allows you tomake free phone and video calls over cellular networks and Wi-Fi to anyone who has Tangoinstalled on their smartphone, tablet or PC, according to Mashable.

App : MetrotubeFor : Windows Phone 7Ranking : 12Cost : $1.99 for premium version, free version available

Although already as popular as the previous "LazyTube" incarnation, Metrotube, re-designed andre-developed for Mango, is an improvement - and so much better than the native YouTube app,according to Mashable.Definitely one to download if you want to catch YouTube clips on your WP7 handset, it says.
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App : FeedWormFor : Windows Phone 7Ranking : 13

Cost : Free

While rival reader app Fuse brings good looks, FeedWorm is a no-frills Windows Phoneapplication that syncs with your Google Reader account and makes it very simple to read RSSfeeds on your phone, according to Mashable.Offline support and a super-clean interface make it a must-have, it says.

App : BubblegumFor : Windows Phone 7Ranking : 14Cost : Free

While Pictures Lab and Thumba Photo Editor still prove popular on the platform, new-comerbubblegum is the photo app du jour, according to Mashable.Created by Microsoft programmers, bubblegum has all the cool filters and social options iOS andAndroid users have been enjoying with Instagram, but integrates beautifully into the WP7platform, it says.

App : MixtapesFor : Windows Phone 7Ranking : 15Cost : Free

Powered by 8tracks, Mixtapes offers free access to millions of songs in thousands of playlists, orto "mixes" made by music lovers all over the world, according to Mashable.The app lets youlisten to "what real people are listening to," and is great for both themed listening sessions andmusic discovery, it says.


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Nokia Ruled Indian Mobile Handset Market In 2011; Android MostPreferred OS

Finnish handset giant Nokia retained its leadership position in the Indian mobile handset market with 31percent share of the market in terms of sales (unit shipments) during 2011, followed by Samsung (with 15

percent share) and Indian manufacturer Micromax (with 5 percent). Additionally, the company was theclear leader in all the mobile handset segments which included smartphones, multi-SIM phones and 3Gphones. It had 38 percent market share in the smartphones segment, (followed by Samsung and RIM) andnearly 13 percent market share in the multi-SIM category.

The overall India mobile handsets market recorded sales (unit shipments) of 183 million units, accordingto CyberMedia Research . Heres a look at the different segments of mobile handsets.

Smartphones

There were 150 smartphone models launched by over 30 vendors in 2011 and the smartphone shipmentstouched 11.2 million units, a YoY growth of 87 percent. But the most amazing thing was that the share of

Android operating system (OS) in the smartphones category grew over 600 percent in 2011 (34 percentshare) in comparison to 2010 (9 percent share).

Naveen Mishra, Lead Telecoms Analyst, CyberMedia Research said, In 2012, the proportion of smartphones with extended features like NFC and 3D gaming are likely to increase. It will be interestingto see how Microsoft and Nokia take their partnership to the next level with a new range of smart devices

based on the Windows 7.5 Mango OS platform.

Multi-SIM

Multi-SIM handset shipments accounted for 57 percent of the total India mobile handsets market in 2011(a YoY increase of 61 percent) and this was mainly due to Nokia introducing its dual-SIM phoneportfolio in the Indian market in late 2010.

Nokia introduced its dual -SIM phone portfolio to the India market in September 2010 and the innovative products in the Finnish vendors portfolio helped Nokia become the market leader in the category.Additionally, the dual-SIM category also extended its presence to the 3G and smartphone (Android)segments in 2011, stated Tarun Pathak, Analyst, Telecoms Practice, CyberMedia Research.

3G Phones

Around 250 3G handset models were shipped in 2011 and the total 3G phone shipments stood at 18million units, a YoY growth of 153 percent.

In anticipation of increased 3G data usage among subscribers all the major handset vendors introducedtheir 3G phone portfolios to the India market during CY 2011. In many respects, 2012 will be a test yearfor the growth and adoption of 3G handsets and data services in the country and it will be interesting tosee how new alliances and offerings emerge from handset vendors, service providers and contentdevelopers to target mobile subscribers with innovative device plus data service bundles, stated NaveenMishra, Lead Telecoms Analyst, CyberMedia Research.
http://www.cmrindia.com/press_releases/india_monthly_mobile_phones_market_review_for_cy_2011.asphttp://www.cmrindia.com/press_releases/india_monthly_mobile_phones_market_review_for_cy_2011.asphttp://www.cmrindia.com/press_releases/india_monthly_mobile_phones_market_review_for_cy_2011.asphttp://www.cmrindia.com/press_releases/india_monthly_mobile_phones_market_review_for_cy_2011.asp


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THE NEXT GROWTH ENGINE OF THE DYNAMIC MOBILE ECOSYSTEM:ROBUST GROWTH IN SMARTPHONES AND FEATURE RICH MOBILEHANDSETS OPPORTUNITITES ABOUND


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INDIA SMARTPHONE OUTLOOK FOR 2012


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mobile handset research

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