Mobile handset revenues drop 5 per cent in 2011-12

The Indian mobile handset market saw a drop of 5 per cent in revenues in the just concluded FY 2011-12. The revenues dropped to Rs31,215 crore from Rs33,031 crore a year back.

The annual survey by Indian Telecom industry by CyberMedia group's flagship journal for the telecom industry Voice&Data attributes this drop two de-growth in the feature phones sales as well as lower average selling values (ASVs).

The 17th annual study 'V&D 100' surveyed over 30 mobile handset firms - both multi-national and Indian--selling feature phones, multimedia phones, enterprise phones and smartphones inIndia.

The disappearing act done by the homegrown handset makers was a big surprise of the year Barring Karbonn and Lava, none of the Indian handset players could face intense competition. Their main stay - feature phones - saw a negative growth while the entry level smartphones of various companies saw a marginal rise.

''Indian mobile phone brands that had hoped to make a mark by sourcing Chinese handsets and selling them only on the price plank were in for a big surprise. These players will have to quickly rethink their product, marketing and service strategy afresh to put their house in order,'' said Ibrahim Ahmad, group editor, Voice&Data.

Nokia remained the No 1 player in the handset business in FY 2011-12 with revenue of Rs11,925 crore, despite 8 per cent drop over Rs12,929 crore revenues posted in FY11. The Finnish company lost market share in smartphones and multi-media segment to Samsung, HTC and Apple, among others.

Nokia that caters to all mobile segments saw its absence in the Android ecosystem dent its performance. Nokia however, made a head way in the dual SIM phones category but lost out in the smartphone market. Nokia ended FY12, with a market share of 38.2 per cent.

The Korean giant Samsung, grew its revenues 38 per cent to Rs7,891 crore at the No 2 spot with a market share of 25.3 per cent. Voice&Data analysts attribute Samsung's success to its rich product portfolio based on Windows, Android and Bada operating systems.

Samsung's Galaxy Note, a hybrid between smartphone and tablet was a trail blazer selling 40,000 units each month since launch in late 2011.

''As consumers look for applications beyond voice and SMS the market will see fight for high end feature phones and smart phones intensify further. Consumers can also look forward to steeper price drops and more features in the same price.'' according to Ahmad.

Homegrown handset company Micromax with revenues of Rs1,978 crore ranked No 3 among Voice&Data100 Top10 mobile handset brands recorded a 13 per cent negative growth. Micromax had a market share of 6.3 per cent.

Other Indian player to post revenues of over Rs1,000 crore was Karbonn. The company grew its revenues 32 per cent to emerge as the No 5 player with a market share of 4.3 per cent.

Among the global companies in the V&D100 Top 10 players, Canadian BlackBerry maker Research In Motion dropped the most--25 per cent--to post revenues of Rs1,460 crore At No 4 Blackberry had a market share of 4.7 per cent on the back of entry level smart phones last year.

Taiwanese handset maker HTC saw maximum growth - 105 per cent--among all the brands surveyed by Voice&Data. HTC's revenue more than doubled to Rs923 crore, from Rs450 crore, to inch a 3-per cent market share.

The other key players in the Top 10 list include spice Telecom (Rs790 crore), LG (Rs780 crore), Huawei (Rs760 crore) and G'Five (Rs670 crore),

About V&D100

V&D100 is the most comprehensive annual survey of the Indian equipment industries and telecom services. It is the most trusted and widely used survey for those seeking authentic information on Indian communications. It is also the most comprehensive, as it covers a wide range of segments and is the only 'single source' of such diverse information.

The V&D100 (volume II) for 2011-12 survey will focus on telecom services and service providers, and is slated for release in July 2012.