India Mobile Handset Sales In 2009 Flat At 101.54 Mn Units: IDC India

India’s mobile handset market remained flat in CY 2009 to register sales of 101.54 million units, mainly due to lower sales in the first six months (January-June 2009).

According to market intelligence firm IDC’s India Quarterly Mobile Handsets Tracker, 4Q 2009-March 2010 release, Finnish handset maker Nokia had the largest share of 54.1 percent in terms of units sold during calendar year 2009.

The two Korean companies Samsung with a 9.7 percent share and LG with a 6.4 percent share for the year ended December 31, 2009 were at No 2 and No 3 spots, respectively.

The market showed signs of revival in 4Q 2009 to record a year-on-year (4Q 2009 over 4Q 2008) growth of 2.3 percent* to touch 28.36 million units in the quarter, according to IDC India.

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Overall, for the year 2009, new vendors registered a combined market share of 12.3 percent* in terms of total India mobile handset sales. In fact, the number of such new vendors in the India mobile handsets market grew to 28 and they together garnered 17.5 percent* of the total sales for the first time during the October-December 2009 quarter. This represented a steady growth from only five new vendors representing a 0.9 percent* combined share of units sold in the January-March 2008 quarter.

Naveen Mishra, Lead Analyst, Mobile Handsets Research, IDC India, said, "The mobile handsets market got even more crowded and fragmented at the lower- and mid-market segments with the rise of 'copycat' models that have looks and aesthetics resembling those of high-end smartphones. These 'copycat' look-alikes are often available for as little as one-tenth of the average sales value (ASV) of a smartphone."

This trend is expected to continue and the market will witness launch of more look-alikes following the launch of aspirational value smartphone models by major vendors. The adoption of these look-alikes is expected to be higher amongst the student and young executive segment whose purchase decisions are often driven by peer group and lifestyle influences as well as affordability.

*Source: IDC's India Quarterly Mobile Handsets Tracker, 4Q 2009, March 2010 release