Gartner: 140 million mobiles to be sold in India in 2010

A Gartner report states that 138.6 million mobile phones will be sold in India this year. The report says that this will be an 18.5% jump over last year’s figure of 117 million. The report goes on to further predict that this number may touch 206 million in 2014.

A press release quotes Anshul Gupta, principal research analyst at Gartner, “Established global device manufacturers are losing ground due to fierce competition from local and Chinese manufacturers in the low-cost segment. Price remains the main criteria when buying any consumer electronic device in India, including a mobile device. Carrier strategies, lower tariffs and/or third-generation (3G) data plans will continue to shape the mobile device market in India.”

The report, titled “Competitive Landscape: Mobile Devices, India,” mentions that currently India contributes approximately 10 percent of worldwide sales and is therefore an attractive market for mobile phone manufacturers. The report goes on further to talk about new players in the Indian mobile market who predominantly cater to the low-end segment with most mobiles selling below the Rs. 4,500 price-point. The report then shifts focus on to the bigger players whose stronghold on the market appears to have been weakened and are therefore responding with more competitive prices even in the mid-range and high-end segments.

The report also dissects the Indian mobile market and how the telecom operators get their revenue with 85% coming from SMS while only 2% comes from data based services. It mentions that the Indian mobile segment has the lowest call rates in the world with 95% of existing consumers (and 98% of new ones) choosing for pre-paid mobile connections.

With reference to 3G, the report states that although the technology is yet to be adopted in mass, 16.7% of mobile devices sold in India in 2010 will support 3G, a rise of 7.5% over last year’s figures. 3G mobile phone will make up for 69% of mobile phone sales by 2014 and similarly smartphone sales will rise to 18% in four year’s time (over the 5.2% percent reported in this year’s first quarter).

The release further quotes Gupta, “Cellular phone penetration in India stood at 45 percent in 2009, and the market is entering into a second phase of growth, with replacement sales increasing from 45 percent in 2009 to 50 percent of total sales in 2010. Moves to high-speed 3G networks is bringing in more challenges in terms of innovation and keeping up with fast changing consumer demand. Shortening product life cycle times and declining sales of voice-centric devices will bring changes to the market during the next five years.”

For further information you can visit Gartner’s Web site at: http://www.gartner.com/resId=1391613