More than 10 million smartphones shipped to India in 2011
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India is witnessing rapid growth in the number of smartphone users. A latest report from CyberMedia Research (CMR), estimates that smartphone shipments crossed the 10 million mark for the first time, in the first eleven months of 2011, accounting for 6 percent of the 166 million mobile shipments being made in the year.
Samsung emerged as the leader, with 34.1 percent of smartphone sales in November, ahead of Nokia (22.4 percent) and RIM (18.6 percent). The year also increased demand for dual SIM mobile handsets. Nokia, rolled out as many as seven models of multi-SIM mobile devices in November 2011, and now leads the category with 19 per cent market share, followed by Micromax with 7.1 per cent and Karbonn with 6.9 per cent.
The overall mobile handsets market recorded sales of 15.4 million units during the month of November 2011. Nokia retained leadership position in the market with 28% share, followed by Samsung with 12% share and Micromax with 4% share of the total handset sales.
In November 2011, 3G phone shipments contributed 8.9% of the total mobile device shipments in the country and close to 224 3G models were launched by 26 vendors.
“As the device side of the data services ecosystem, signified by the growth in shipments of smartphones and 3G-enabled handsets, reaches a critical mass, telcos in India will need to beef up networks and tie with publishing companies and content developers. It is important for the three-part ecosystem of device vendors, content companies and telecom service providers to invest in attractive and relevant content packages for the growing segment of 3G-device and smartphone users. This will help grow data consumption and lead to improvement in telco ARPUs,” states Naveen Mishra, CMR’s lead analyst (telecoms practice).
With more and more 3G phones hitting the market, operators are dealing with the challenge of providing quality networks to all the subscribers.
This post was written by Swati, Editor for Buzzom, Asia’s No 1 Social Media Blog. Pic Courtesy: REUTERS/Sivaram V
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