Tech analysts are busy spotting future trends as 2011 comes to a close. In India, consensus seems to be on three grounds. One, the mobile market here is set to change radically. Two, the battle worth tracking is between market leader Nokia and its fast growing competitor Samsung that is riding high on its smartphones. Third, Internet usage is going to drive the mobile phone landscape.
At this juncture, a new US study I came across last week on Internet traffic through mobile phones and connected devices, mainly tablets, reveals an interesting contrast between the markets in America and India.
In the US, and also in the UK and Singapore, seven per cent of the total Internet usage happens through devices other than computers. Nearly 70 per cent of this usage is done through mobile phones. In India, the non-computer Internet traffic is 3.7 per cent, with nearly 90 per cent coming through mobile phones.
Talking about devices. Six in every 10 mobile phones in the US are smartphones. Latest industry data show just one in every 20 mobile phones in India is a smartphone.
That takes us to the leading market players. Nokia leads with a 35 per cent share of the Indian market. Samsung is close behind with 25 per cent, and catching up fast with its android phones. Blackberry trails with a nearly 20 per cent share, while IPhone is hardly a significant player.
By contrast, in US three in every ten mobile phones is an Android smartphone, and two in 10 an Iphone. A main reason for the relatively lower popularity of these two smartphones in India is that high-speed Internet service is too costly and too slow to enable users utilise these phones to their full capacity.
With service providers making their data plans more competitive, 2012 could mark a radical shift in the Indian mobile market.
Ravi Bajpai
Ravi Bajpai 