Nokia continues to have largest handset market share in India

Finnish firm Nokia had the largest share of 31.5 per cent in mobile handset market in India in terms of units shipped (sales) during the third quarter (July-September) of 2010, according to market research and advisory firm IDC.

The Chinese brand G’Five emerged as number two player in terms of unit shipments market share while Korean handset manufacturer Samsung stood at number three in the third quarter of 2010, IDC said.

The Indian mobile handsets market continued to grow in Q3 2010 as well, to record a quarter-on-quarter (Q3 2010 over Q2 2010) growth of 3.6 per cent to touch 40.08 million units in the quarter.

The year 2010 is expected to end with total mobile handset sales of 155.9 million units.

The number of emerging vendors in India’s burgeoning mobile handsets market grew to 68 and they together garnered 41.2 per cent of total shipments (sales) for the first time during the July-September 2010 quarter.

This represented a steady rise from only five new vendors representing a 0.9 per cent combined share of units shipped in the January-March 2008 quarter.

Q3 2010 saw a strong quarter-on-quarter (Q3 2010 over Q2 2010) growth in smartphone sales by 34.2 per cent and a year-on-year (Q3 2010 over Q3 2009) increase by 294.9 per cent, according to IDC.

Smartphone prices continued to drop through the year and as competition increased, devices were made available by vendors at successively lower price points.

So, while 80 per cent of total India smartphone sales were below the ASV (average sales value) of Rs 18,000 (per set) in Q2 2010, this proportion increased to 90 per cent in Q3 2010.