According to the Gartner, Mobile phone manufacturers could cut handset prices this year to increase their sales. Last quarter there was decline in the handsets sales which is bad news for handset vendors but can be good news for consumers as vendors start to lower prices to clear unsold inventory.  There was a sale of 419.1 million units in the first quarter of 2012, 2 per cent decline from the first quarter of 2011. There was decline due to slowdown in demand from the Asia/Pacific region. For Asia, first quarter is the strongest one which is driven by Chinese New Year but they saw lack of new product launched from leading manufacturers, and users delayed upgrades in the hope of better Smartphone deals arriving later in the year.
Now vendors are left with unsold inventory, which they will clear by lowering prices during the next couple of quarters. However, the volatile situation of the Rupee against the Dollar could mean that some of the benefits of lowering this price might not reach Indian consumers. In the last quarter prices in India rose due to weakening of the Rupee against the Dollar in the range of 3 to 3.5 per cent. According to the analysts Rupee won't fall below this level and that therefore the price benefit might reach Indian.

Source : Themobileindian

Nokia which was world’s top selling phone brand has now been taken over Samsung. Nokia was at no. 1 position since 1998, as told by Gartner.If we look at company’s statistics Samsung have sold 86.6 million units till now and has recorded a raise of 25.9 percent as compared from last year. Even the handset survey based on customer interest has shown that Samsung phones are getting maximum user interest.
Samsung Inc. has recaptured the number one position in Smartphone category leaving behind Apple by selling 38 million Smartphones worldwide. Samsung is the only company whose Android-based Smartphone sales are more than 40 percent of total Android-based Smartphone sales worldwide. Interestingly, no other vendor has more than 10 per cent share of the market.ZTE and Huawei, two major Chinese brands also managed to almost double their market share and now account for 4.2 and 2.6 per cent of the total handsets sold in the world holding 4th and 6th place respectively.
Other market players like BlackBerry, Motorola and HTC also lost their market share and hold 2.4 percent, 2.0 percent and 1.8 percent respectively. Sony managed to hold its market share at 1.9 percent.Both Android and iOS grew at the cost of Symbian with Android having 56.1 per cent while Symbian dropped from 27.7 per cent and now just retains 8.6 per cent of market.

Source : Themobileindian

The mobile phone or handset market in India has always been price sensitive and there is a big opportunity for device manufacturers in the low cost or budget handset segment. This is evident from the fact that even global players like Samsung, Nokia and HTC, who are globally known for their premium products, have brought low cost offerings for the Indian customer.

"The entry of Indian mobile handset players focusing on low-end, value conscious consumers has intensified competition in the Indian mobile device market. The average selling price (ASP) of a mobile device is approximately Rs 2,200, with 75 per cent of devices sold costing below Rs 4,000," said Anshul Gupta, principal research analyst at Gartner.

Looking at the products being launched these days the most popular handset equipment brand Nokia launched dual SIM devices in both, the C2 and Asha series of phones, catering to budget conscious users. Similarly Samsung has been popular with the Chap and Champ and Star duos series that are in the budget category.

According to Gartner research the Indian market is projected to reach over 231 million units in 2012, an increase of 8.5 percent over 2011 sales of 213 million units. The mobile handset market is expected to show steady growth through 2015 when end user sales will surpass 322 million units. Of this, smartphone sales in India made up 6 per cent of total device sales in the first three quarters of 2011, and this share is expected to increase to 8 per cent in 2012.

Source : Themobileindian

According to a report by research firm Gartner, the Mobile handset market in India is bound to increase by 8.5% taking the total number of mobile phones in India to about 231 million in 2012. In 2011 this number is said to reach 213 million units in 2012. At the end of Q3 2011, Nokia dominated the market by maximum devices sold, which was followed Samsung which stands at number two. Trailing behind them is China's G'five which is giving tough competition to these global brands. India's own Karbonn Mobile and Micromax get the fourth and fifth place respectively.

Anshul Gupta, Principal Research Analyst of Gartner said, "The Indian mobile device market is driven by the lowest call rates in the world and dominated by low-cost devices, which account for 75 per cent of overall sales in India in 2011. The big global brands will continue to face competition from local and Chinese brands as some of these brands are building capabilities to compete at a larger level covering broader consumer segments."

The multi-nationals indeed get a stiff competition from home-grown companies which have weakened the position of global brands in the low-end segment. The average selling price (ASP) of a mobile device is approximately USD 45, with 75 per cent of devices sold costing below USD 75 in India. India accounts for 12% of the global sales of mobile devices and Smartphone sales in India made up 6% of total device sales in the first three quarters of 2011. According to Mr. Gupta this figure is bound to increase by another 6% in 2012.

Source : Mobigyaan