Nokia leads the handset market in India

Finnish firm Nokia had the largest share of 31.5 per cent in mobile handset market in India in terms of units shipped (sales) during third quarter (July-September) 2010, according to market research and advisory firm IDC.

The Chinese brand GFive emerged as number two player in terms of unit shipments market share while Korean handset manufacturer Samsung stood at number three in 3Q 2010, IDC said.

The India mobile handsets market continued to grow in 3Q 2010 as well to record a quarter-on-quarter (3Q 2010 over 2Q 2010) growth of 3.6 per cent to touch 40.08 million units in the quarter.

The year 2010 is expected to end with total mobile handset sales of 155.9 million units. The number of emerging vendors in Indias burgeoning mobile handsets market grew to 68 and they together garnered 41.2 per cent of total shipments (sales) for the first time during the July-September 2010 quarter.

This represented a steady rise from only five new vendors representing a 0.9 per cent combined share of units shipped in the January-March 2008 quarter.

3Q 2010 saw a strong quarter-on-quarter (3Q 2010 over 2Q 2010) growth in smartphone sales by 34.2 per cent and a year-on-year (3Q 2010 over 3Q 2009) increase by 294.9 per cent, according to IDC.

Smartphone prices continued to drop through the year and as competition increased, devices were made available by vendors at successively lower price points.

So, while 80 per cent of total India smartphone sales were below the ASV (Average Sales Value) of Rs 18,000 (per set) in 2Q 2010, this proportion increased to 90 per cent in 3Q 2010.

"The India mobile handsets market got even more crowded and fragmented in the lower- and mid-market segments with the further entry of new players offering innovative models at attractive price points to lure buyers", said Anirban Banerjee, Associate Vice President, Research, IDC India.

The propensity to adopt feature phones and smartphones is greatest amongst the youth and business executive segments, Banerjee said.

Android gained acceptance as a mobile operating system (OS) and 9.4 per cent of smartphones shipped in 3Q 2010 were based on the Android OS as compared to 2.9 per cent in 3Q 2009.

The number of models with Android OS also increased to 19 in 3Q 2010 as compared to only two models in 3Q 2009.

According to Naveen Mishra, Lead Analyst, Mobile Handsets Research, IDC India, "In the smartphone segment an increasing number of vendors are displaying confidence in the Android OS, having grown from just one vendor in 3Q 2009 to as many as seven in 3Q 2010."

Overall India smartphone sales are expected to touch 5.96 million units by end of calendar 2010", he said.