183mn phones shipped to India in 2011, reveals study

Mobile trends in India were at their highest last year and wider acceptance by rural areas, 3G awareness, among others are being credited to have brought about that change. Compared to 2010, mobile phone shipments in India grew by 10%, as per a study carried out by CyberMedia Research. The increase show the shipments were 183.4mn units in 2011, compared to 166.5mn units in 2010. Nokia, however, still leads the pack. In the feature phone and smartphone segment, Nokia took the top spot, followed by Samsung. Nokia retained 31 percent market share with feature phones and 38 percent with smartphones. Micromax and RIM took the third place in feature phone and smartphone segment, respectively.

10 percent increase in phone shipments

"In 2012, the proportion of smartphones with extended features like NFC and 3D gaming is likely to increase. It will be interesting to see how Microsoft and Nokia take their partnership to the next level with a new range of smart devices based on the Windows 7.5 Mango OS platform," CyberMedia Research Lead Telecoms Analyst, Naveen Mishra said. 

Not surprisingly, the last year saw RIM drop in position to claim the third spot in the smartphone segment. On the other hand, the smartphone market blossomed with the launch of 150 models by 30 vendors. With established players, like Nokia and Samsung expanding their dual-SIM portfolio, the multi-SIM category saw a year-on-year increase of 61 percent in shipments and accounted for 57 percent of the total shipments in 2011. According to this report, Nokia displaced G’Five, while Samsung pushed Micromax a step lower. So assumedly, G’Five had a good penetration in the rural areas and the shipments of its entry level handsets may be high.

"The innovative products in the Finnish vendor's portfolio helped Nokia become the market leader in the category," CyberMedia Research Telecoms Practice Analyst, Tarun Pathak said. The year 2011 also saw about 250 3G handsets from about 30 vendors hitting the market, accounting for nearly 18 million units, and an year-on-year growth of 153 per cent. 

The report, however points out that the acceptance of 3G is still not full-fledged, owing to the lack of 3G network in India. As of December 2011, the number of active 3G subscribers stood at 15 million, and this number may see a further rise, if 4G rollout manages to bring in 3G services at lower prices. This could also lead to a higher number of smartphone users.