Nokia Ruled Indian Mobile Handset Market In 2011; Android Most Preferred OS

Finnish handset giant Nokia retained its leadership position in the Indian mobile handset market with 31 percent share of the market in terms of sales (unit shipments) during 2011, followed by Samsung (with 15 percent share) and Indian manufacturer Micromax (with 5 percent). Additionally, the company was the clear leader in all the mobile handset segments which included smartphones, multi-SIM phones and 3G phones. It had 38 percent market share in the smartphones segment, (followed by Samsung and RIM) and nearly 13 percent market share in the multi-SIM category.

The overall India mobile handsets market recorded sales (unit shipments) of 183 million units, according to CyberMedia Research. Here's a look at the different segments of mobile handsets.

Smartphones

There were 150 smartphone models launched by over 30 vendors in 2011 and the smartphone shipments touched 11.2 million units, a YoY growth of 87 percent. But the most amazing thing was that the share of Android operating system (OS) in the smartphones category grew over 600 percent in 2011 (34 percent share) in comparison to 2010 (9 percent share).

Naveen Mishra, Lead Telecoms Analyst, CyberMedia Research said, "In 2012, the proportion of smartphones with extended features like NFC and 3D gaming are likely to increase. It will be interesting to see how Microsoft and Nokia take their partnership to the next level with a new range of smart devices based on the Windows 7.5 Mango OS platform."

Multi-SIM

Multi-SIM handset shipments accounted for 57 percent of the total India mobile handsets market in 2011 (a YoY increase of 61 percent) and this was mainly due to Nokia introducing its dual-SIM phone portfolio in the Indian market in late 2010.

"Nokia introduced its dual-SIM phone portfolio to the India market in September 2010 and the innovative products in the Finnish vendor's portfolio helped Nokia become the market leader in the category. Additionally, the dual-SIM category also extended its presence to the 3G and smartphone (Android) segments in 2011," stated Tarun Pathak, Analyst, Telecoms Practice, CyberMedia Research.

3G Phones

Around 250 3G handset models were shipped in 2011 and the total 3G phone shipments stood at 18 million units, a YoY growth of 153 percent.

"In anticipation of increased 3G data usage among subscribers all the major handset vendors introduced their 3G phone portfolios to the India market during CY 2011. In many respects, 2012 will be a 'test year' for the growth and adoption of 3G handsets and data services in the country and it will be interesting to see how new alliances and offerings emerge from handset vendors, service providers and content developers to target mobile subscribers with innovative device plus data service bundles," stated Naveen Mishra, Lead Telecoms Analyst, CyberMedia Research.