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Tag: Micromax

  • Exciting Times for Mobile Industry In India

    These Are Interesting Times For Mobile Industry In India !

    Mobile Number Portability Deadline is here Oct 31. The share of the top telecom companies maybe redefined. But the overall Top firms will continue to cumulatively hold the lion’s share. Will the subscriber leave a top 3 carrier and move to a new carrier? What will be the top 3 carrier’s strategy? Interesting discussions for next MoMo !

    The 3G Countdown Begins….
    – Tata Docomo has started its marketing blitz for the 3G Launch this Diwali.
    – Vodafone plans to launch its 3G services in Q1 2011.
    – Reliance, MTNL and BSNL already offer 3G Services but PSUs have not milked its unique advantage to the extent it should have.

    Mobile Handset Market Share Being Redefined
    – Nokia’s market share is down from 50+ % to about 32% or so. Though Nokia disputes IDC numbers, there is no denying that Nokia has been seeing reduction in mind-share to smartphones.
    – Indian OEMs continue to increase their volumes. Micromax makes very impressive strides.
    – Newer, Better, Fully Loaded Handsets Are Being Launched At Both Ends Of The Spectrum.

    Thriving Mobile App Industry
    Indian Developers Are Designing Cooler And Innovative Apps Across The Board. More and more professionals are gaining exposure and experience on Mobile software across back-end as well as client applications. The need for mobile developers is higher than ever before and the companies are training their cadres for future growth.

    The Discrepancy Between Apple’s Market Share, Mind Share and Application Share is being corrected. Android has zoomed ahead of iPhone in US.

  • The FMCGization of Indian Mobile Handset Market

    The Indian Mobile Handset Market is coming of age. There are more than 30 Indian Mobile Handset players. The Industry is going strong with impressive numbers and is now resembling the marketing favorite FMCG Industry.

    Let us look at the few common features with FMCG Market:

    1. Strong Global Players With Indian Challengers

    Indian FMCG Market is a vibrant place with global players like Unilever and P&G. Global players have been successfully challenged by Indian companies like Nirma, Cavin Care, Marico, Ghadi etc.

    Similarly, Global Companies like Nokia, Samsung, LG have been strong in India. In fact, Nokia enjoyed Maruti-like status in India. However, now it is challenged by Indian players like Karbonn, Maxx, Fly, Videocon, Micromax, Intex etc.

    India is a very important market for Unilever as well as Nokia, P&G as well as Samsung.

    2. Price Wars

    The FMCG market has seen price wars and companies like Unilever launched Wheel to counter-attack Nirma. Similarly, Nokia, LG and Samsung have launched sub-2000 Rs phones to counter the various Indian brands.

    3. Product Enhancements

    Indian FMCG Players have used strong product features to differentiate themselves. Whether it is special packaging, different price points, product ingredients – FMCG players have been innovating and improving products.

    Similarly, Indian players have innovations like Dual SIM, long battery hours to differentiate themselves apart from price advantage.

    4. Distribution

    In FMCG, Distribution is God ! Companies like HLL, Colgate, Cavin-Care have built a great distribution machinery. It is their biggest advantage. Similarly, Nokia and others have created a great distribution network and a strong sales team, which has resulted in nearly 2 million handsets being sold every month in India!

    5. New & Improved !

    FMCG Products excel in re-launches with minimal changes – The New & Improved. FMCG products play with different colors, size and ingredients.

    Indian Mobile players are also playing with bold Indian colors, new sizes and aesthetic appeal.

    6. Celebrity Advertisement

    Indian FMCG Players have developed and promoted the concept of celebrity advertisements. In fact, Lux prides itself in promoting Indian beauties and every top celebrity is promoting multiple FMCG Products.

    Videocon, Maxx India, Lemon etc have started using Indian Celebrities for differentiating themselves in the Indian advertisement scenario.

    7. Counterfeit

    The Global Players face the problem of product plagiarism in India. Whether is Vicks, Colgate or Parachute, there are several Indian versions.

    iPhone and Blackberry handset designs are the most copied designs in India. There are many foreigns handsets which are openly sold with duplicate designs.

    8. Product Flanking Strategy

    Unilever, P&G started it and Nokia and Indian players are mastering it !