State of the Indian handset market

Posted on | February 19, 2007 |

According to ORG-GFK figures, Nokia has seen a dip in its Indian market share in the last one year.

Nokia’s market share in the GSM handset market in terms of units sold has come off its highs at 78-80% in end December 2005 to around 70% at the end of December 2006.

In the same period, Motorola has gained from 5% to 15% while Sony Ericsson has gained to around 8%.

Motorola, which was down at almost 2% market share in August-September 05, has grown almost 10 times since then on a very small base.

Sources said Nokia sales boomed in the first half of 2006 and it gained market share. The subsequent dip in market share may not be a huge worry for Nokia as its own volumes have grown at a healthy rate and it may stay away from competing at unprofitable prices. Industry watchers predict that Nokia market share may stabilise at around 70-72 %.

Last year, Nokia launched 33 models, Motorola launched 18 models and Sony Ericsson 17 models. The remaining players launched close to 53 models.

Credible numbers about the Indian handset market are difficult to get. Detractors raise question regarding the methodology employed. I have heard objections which say that many reports are skewed because they rely on sales data from the top 50 centres which does not represent the rural market. But the numbers are indicative anyways.

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