Chances that the new mobile handset you recently purchased is counterfeit or assembled from spare parts have just decreased.
In a move to check the unorganised handset market, handset manufacturers are putting a stamp of authenticity by sticking holograms for users to identify.
All handsets of Nokia, Sony Ericsson and I-mate will have these holograms stuck to its handsets. The hologram bears the name of the company and of the Indian Cellular Association. The practice is arguably the first of its kind in the mobile handset industry.
These holograms are given to the company's authorised brand owners and distributors.
"The hologram gives a certification about the authenticity of the product. It will help customers buy the genuine handsets," Pankaj Mohindroo, president of the ICA, told Business Standard.
The unorganised market is worth about Rs 4,000-Rs 4,500 crore at present and makes about 20-25 per cent of the entire handset industry. Parts of handsets are usually changed or tampered with even though they may be sold as new handsets in the market.
Currently, Nokia has about 63 per cent of the market share in the handset market and the three companies constitute about 80 per cent of the GSM handsets in the country.
Sources say that although some manufacturers had also tried for similar certification, their proposal had not been approved.