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Global Mobile Handset Market 2012: Mobile Sales Decline, Smartphones Surge

Kaushambi — Thu, 17 May 2012 06:34:01 +0000

A study by IT research and advisory firm Gartner pointed out that global sales of mobile phones decreased 2% in Q1 2012 for the first time after a similar trend back in the Q2 2009. Leading mobile manufacturer Samsung topped mobile phone sales worldwide in the same period with a slightly higher market share than rival Nokia.

Of the total worldwide mobile sales in Q1 2012, at least 40% of the market share was captured by Samsung (20.7%) and Nokia (19.8%).

That’s good news for Samsung because it signifies a spike of 28% in mobile handsets sales in Q1 2012 (8.65 crore handsets) as compared to the first 4 months of 2011 (6.87 crore handsets). On the other hand Nokia witnessed about a 21% drop in its sales for the same time period, selling 8.31 crore handsets in Q1 2012 as compared to 10.75 crore in Q1 2011.

Worldwide Mobile Device Sales [1st Qtr 2012]

Apple has reason to smile because its market share went from 3.9% in Q1 2011 to 7.9% in Q1 2012. It sold more than 3.31 crore mobile phones in that period this year as compared to 1.68 crore last year. Obviously the baseless assumptions by many who believed that Apple would plummet without Steve Jobs’ presence have been proved wrong. And with the whole world eagerly awaiting the launch of iPhone 5, Apple’s footprint is set to grow.

In terms of total worldwide sales and market share, the leaders Samsung, Nokia and Apple were followed by ZTE, LG, Huawei Device, Research in Motion, Motorola, Sony Mobile Communication, HTC and other smaller mobile companies.

Interestingly, market share of South Korean mobile giant LG dropped 37% with sales of 2.39 crore handsets in Q1 2011 vs. 1.47 crore in Q1 2012. On the other hand, Chinese manufacturer Huawei Device saw a growth of nearly 63% in market share with sales soaring from about 70 lakh handsets in Q1 2011 to 1.08 crore in Q1 2012.

Motorola, the company which invented mobile phones had a tiny market share of 2% of total mobile phone sales worldwide. It sold about 83.6 lakh handsets in Q1 2012 as compared to 87.8 lakh in the same period in 2011.

Worldwide Smartphone Sales [1st Qtr 2012]

Contrary to overall mobile phone sales worldwide, the smartphone segment witnessed a solid surge of 44.7% as compared to Q1 2011. Sales of Android based phones saw a jump of 122% from 3.6 crore handsets in Q1 2011 to 8.1 crore in Q1 2012.

Retaining number one spot and with a 56% market share, Android phones amounted to more than half of smartphone sales worldwide.

Operating System	1Q12 Units	1Q12 Market Share (%)	1Q11 Units	1Q11 Market Share (%)
Android	81,067.40	56.1	36,350.10	36.4
iOS	33,120.50	22.9	16,883.20	16.9
Symbian	12,466.90	8.6	27,598.50	27.7
Research In Motion	9,939.30	6.9	13,004.00	13
Bada	3,842.20	2.7	1,862.20	1.9
Microsoft	2,712.50	1.9	2,582.10	2.6
Others	1,242.90	0.9	1,495.00	1.5
Total	144,391.70	100	99,775.00	100

iOS based smartphones manufactured by Apple also saw a steep rise in sales of nearly 96%. 3.3 crore handsets were sold in Q1 2012 overshadowing a figure of 1.6 crore in Q1 2011. This brings Apple to a commanding 2^nd place in overall market share (22.9%) in worldwide sales of smartphones in Q1 2012. Apple and Samsung have a solid grip over the global smartphone market with a combined market share of 49.3%.

Almost all other smartphone platforms witnessed a decline in market share and total sales for Q1 2012 as compared to Q1 2011.

Sales of Symbian based phones slumped 54% from 2.7 crore in Q1 2011 to 1.2 crore in Q1 2012. This platform also lost its previously held 2^nd place in market share to iOS. In Q1 2011, 27.7% of all smartphone sales worldwide were those based on a Symbian platform. In Q1 2012, they make up only 8.6% of global smartphone sales.

Key Mobile phone Device Trends

While the decline in overall sales is not the best of signs, it may very well indicate that users are slowly shifting from traditional handsets to smartphones. Total mobile phone sales decline 2% but smartphone sales meteorically rise 44.7%.
Samsung beats Nokia to grab top market share in total mobile phone sales in the world in Q1 2012 as compared to Q1 2011. 20.7% of all mobile phone sales are attributable to Samsung.
Figures for Apple expand as sales and market share grow 96% and 102% respectively. Apple sells 7.9% of the world’s mobile phones. A successful launch of the much awaited iPhone 5 could see Apple dominating the smartphone market.
China based manufacturer Huawei Device’s mobile handset global sales increase 54% although its current market share only 2.6% worldwide. Founded in 1987, Huawei Device has expanded its footprint to 140 countries and has R&D centres in 20 countries.

Spice M5600 – Mobile Handset offering live TV without data connection!

Arun Prabhudesai — Wed, 09 May 2012 12:32:20 +0000

S Mobility, the company behind Spice brand have launched a mobile phone which has ability to receive analogue TV signals. The mobile handset called Spice FLO TV M-5600 allows users to watch free to Air Channels live.

The concept of watching TV on mobile is not new – but most of the offerings are from telecom operators. There are also plenty of Live TV apps which mobile users can use on the phone. All of them use data connections to broadcast the pictures.

However, Spice FLO TV mobile is probably the first one which offers it directly on the handset without the need of a telecom operator. Essentially, the phone can also be termed as a miniature Television. The only thing is, it will receive free to Air channels like DD News, DD National etc depending on the channel’s transmission signal.

This dual Sim handset a decent 3.2 inch QVGA screen and also sports 1.3 MP camera. Spice M 5600 has other features like SD Card support (up to 8GB), FM Radio with recording, and a 1200 mAH battery, which gives a talk time of up to 4 hours. The handset comes in 2 colors – Jet Black & Ivory white.

This newly launched handset is now already available with over 50,000 retail stores across India. It is also sold on most of the Indian online portals.

The Spice FLO TV M-5600 is sure to attract consumers as it is priced very competitively at Rs. 3099/-. The handset is available in online stores at Rs. 2549/- much below the retail price of the handset.

Live TV has not caught up in India as it has in rest of the world. The launch of this handset will surely help in increasing the mobile TV viewership.

What do you think?

Prepaid or postpaid mobile subscription: Which is better in India?

Kaushambi — Fri, 04 May 2012 03:12:46 +0000

In 2011, Nielsen’s Survey titled Mobile Youth Around the World pointed out that 97% of the Indian youth use prepaid mobile connections. Assuming that the numbers haven’t changed drastically, the recent announcement by mobile giant Vodafone to hike its call tariff for postpaid users in the Mumbai circle by up to 20% sounds irrational. Or does it?

Let’s put prepaid against postpaid head to head and check out which is better for Indian mobile users.

Prepaid vs. Postpaid: Prepaid for minimum to low usage

For people who have very low mobile phone usage, the prepaid connection is a clear winner. For example, you use the mobile to make only one or two outgoing calls every day. These calls don’t last longer than a minute or two. At the usual charge of either 50p per minute or 1p per second, the maximum monthly recharge that you are looking to do is in the range of Rs. 60 to Rs. 100.

There may be a 10% +/- depending on whether you call within your own network (OnNet) or to mobile phones in other networks (OffNet). Worst case scenario, you can get an extra top up in a month when you have exceeded your normal phone calls. A local SMS will cost you Rs. 1.

Mobile users who are on a tight budget will definitely prefer prepaid over postpaid connection as there is no monthly rental. The simple flexibility of ‘recharging only when you want and what you can afford’ lures mobile users who don’t wish to spend a lot of money on mobile phone service.

Additionally, users today also have access to many different ways to recharge including via online portals or net banking. Another advantage of using prepaid mobile services is the fact that sim cards can be bought over the counter from many shops.

Prepaid vs. Postpaid: Postpaid for medium to high usage

For people who have a medium to high mobile phone usage, a postpaid connection definitely seems to be the way to go. Let’s take a similar example and suppose that you use your mobile phone for about 30 minutes of outgoing calls daily, and consider this ‘medium usage’. If this was done on a regular prepaid connection at either 50p per minute or 1p per second, it would cost somewhere in the range of Rs. 450 to Rs. 540 per month.

On the other hand, if you happened to use a ‘Rs. 399 monthly’ postpaid connection from Vodafone in the Mumbai circle, you would have already been provided with 800 minutes of free local talktime. That’s already 200 minutes or more than 3 hours of talktime on top of your daily 30 minute doze of outgoing chit chat on your mobile phone.

Anything above the 800 minutes will be charged at 50p per minute for OnNet and OffNet calls. So head to head for medium usage, postpaid beats prepaid in terms of value. A local SMS on post-paid will cost you Rs. 0.5.

For people who use their mobiles for more than 30 minutes of outgoing calls every day, the answer is a no brainer as postpaid is clearly cheaper and more convenient. Higher minimum monthly rentals allow more freebies including free minutes, SMSes and other services.

Postpaid users also have the choice of getting their own numbers. Additionally and unlike prepaid, outgoing won’t be barred once you reach a certain amount. This is a great boon for the folks who have extremely high mobile phone usage and are not worried about massive bills.

Mobile users with specific requirements

If you happen to have abnormally high usage of particular services like SMS, internet usage, STD calls, International calls/SMS or continuous calls to just one number, you should ask your service provider if they have plans / packs that address your requirement.

In most cases, service providers cater to these needs by giving offers like ‘Friends and Family offer’, ‘SMS offer’, ‘Night Speak’, ‘SMS pack’, ‘Data pack’, ‘Group Benefit’, etc. Typical situations when you may want to consider taking up an offer are

Continuous calls to only one number
Abnormally high SMS usage but low call usage
High internet usage but minimum call usage
High international calls/SMS but low local usage
Mobile phone usage only during night hours
Continuous calls to OnNet numbers only
Calls to OffNet numbers only
Most calls are within a group of friends/family

If you find yourself to be just another average mobile phone user who has really specific requirements, the rule of thumb is "Prepaid for minimum to low usage and postpaid for medium to high usage"

The above comparison was generic and reflects approximate figures based on the currently available basic prepaid and postpaid plans from Vodafone in the Mumbai circle. They have been accessed via Vodafone India’s website.

Aircel launches Cheap unlimited 3G plans!

Arun Prabhudesai — Mon, 30 Apr 2012 07:13:01 +0000

One of the biggest reasons why 3G has not really taken off in India even after close to 2 years is because of sky-high prices. 3G prices are currently atleast 5 times higher than normal 2g connections. From Telecom Operator’s point of view, it is very difficult for them to bring down prices due to the huge amount spent in buying the spectrum and creating the infrastructure.

Aircel though seems to have taken first step in making 3g affordable for the masses. The have launched “Aircel Pocket Internet Smart” 3g plans, which are quite affordable. Three years back, Aircel had launched their pocket internet data plans which truly changed the way mobile internet was perceived and consumed.

Pocket Internet Smart will offer Aircel consumers unlimited 3G. Also, these plans will have no differentiation between 3G & 2G. the same rates will be applicable for both, so if the device is 3G enabled, consumer will be able to use 3g if not it will use 2G. This will help provide convenience to consumers while choosing same plan across devices – mobiles, tablets and dongles.

The 3G plans are unlimited, however, there is a Fair Usage Policy, after which the speed comes down to 128 kbps. The good part though is FUP is quite generous for a mobile user and cost is affordable.

Aircel Pocket Internet Smart Offering:

Price	Validity	High Speed Data	Data Transfer on 3G & 2G network in Validity	High Speed Pre – FuP	Speed post FUP
7	1	50 MB	Unlimited	3.6 Mbps	128 kbps
18	3	100 MB	Unlimited	3.6 Mbps	128 kbps
37	7	200 MB	Unlimited	3.6 Mbps	128 kbps
67	15	250 MB	Unlimited	3.6 Mbps	128 kbps
128	30	500 MB	Unlimited	3.6 Mbps	128 kbps
198	30	1 GB	Unlimited	3.6 Mbps	128 kbps
399	30	2 GB	Unlimited	3.6 Mbps	128 kbps
697	30	5 GB	Unlimited	7.2 Mbps	128 kbps
997	30	10 GB	Unlimited	7.2 Mbps	128 kbps

Overall, looks like 3G prices are on their way down – I am sure other telecom providers will take suit from Aircel and bring down their 3G prices as well.

One Second Billing mandatory for Telecom Operators: TRAI

Arun Prabhudesai — Sat, 21 Apr 2012 09:35:04 +0000

TRAI has released an amendment to the Telecommunication Tariff Order, 1999, that has now made it mandatory for all Telecom Service providers in India to offer per second billing. Although, most providers already have it, there was no rule making it mandatory for them to offer one second billing to mobile subscribers.

This amendment was a result of consultation paper released by TRAI and subsequent discussions with stakeholders regarding number of tariff plans a telecom operator should have. Currently operators have a cap of maximum 25 different tariff plans they can offer to consumers. TRAI considered 3 different points regarding mobile tariff plans:

Whether one Standard Plan, for all Service Providers, particularly for a prepaid subscriber would be relevant in the present scenario of Indian telecom market.
Whether existence of large number of tariff plans are beneficial for subscribers.
Whether there is need for revising the existing cap of 25 tariff plans on offer

Based on the feedback from stakeholders, it was decided that a single standard plan for each operator was not feasible as it would detrimental to the needs of consumers who are so dynamic and segmented. Different tariff plans are created so that it will cater to different segments of consumers. Although the allowed 25 tariff plans are on the higher side, TRAI has decided not to make any changes to it.

Also, to ensure that per second billing, which has been very popular with Indian mobile subscribers, remains an assured alternative option for all subscribers,TRAI has decided to mandate that all service providers shall offer at least one pre-paid and one post-paid tariff plan with the pulse rate of one second for local and national long distance calls. The service providers will be at liberty to offer alternative tariff plans with any pulse rate within the overall ceiling of 25 tariff plans.

[TRAI TTO amendment PDF]

Airtel to bring 4G mi-fi device for Indian consumers

Arun Prabhudesai — Mon, 16 Apr 2012 10:48:56 +0000

Airtel became the first Indian telecom operator to launch 4G (4th Generation in Mobile Network Technology) services when it was launched in Kolkata on Tuesday. 4G services are based on LTE (Long Term Evolution) technology which is capable of offering speeds of upto 40 mbps, three times that of 3G. The services will soon be expanded in phased manner in the places that Airtel has won the licenses.

In a bid to expand its 4G footprint, Bharti Airtel is also talking Qualcomm to buy their 4G licenses.

Currently, Bharti is offering 4G based data cards, which can be used to access internet more than 3 times faster than existing 3G technology. The internet can be accessed on Laptops and PCs using these USB data cards.

However, given the fact that very few people have 4g compatible mobile phones, these services can only be accessed through data cards.

To overcome this problem, Airtel is in advanced talks with Chinese vendors to launch Mi-Fi’ devices (similar to vodafone) that will help people in India to access 4G services from their smartphones or wireless enabled phones on the move.

This according to me is a great move, especially because usage of internet on mobile is growing fiercely in India. Additionally, even after launch of 4G phones in India, very few people will be able to afford it. A 4G Mi-Fi device can work as an excellent and cheap intermediate device that will allow users to access internet not only on PCs but also on mobile phones. A 4G mi-fi device can also work as a perfect internet access device for tablets which are expected to double in numbers this year.

Compared to other vendors it is quite clear that Bharti Airtel is taking 4G quite seriously. According to the reports – Bharti is also slated to bid in the second round of 4G auctions later this year as it is eying the 700 MHz band which is known to be three times more efficient than the 2,300 MHz band auctioned some two years ago.

Let us hope that Airtel brings in this 4G device sooner than later!

What’s your opinion?

Loop Mobile shuts shop!

Arun Prabhudesai — Tue, 10 Apr 2012 04:25:03 +0000

The aftermath of 122 Telecom license cancellation ruling by Supreme Court earlier this year continues – After S Tel and Etisalat DB, Loop Mobile will be 3rd mobile operator to shut its operation in 13 circles. The 13 circles where Loop Telecom is closing down its operations are — Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Orissa, Haryana, Assam, Bihar, Karnataka, Gujarat, Punjab, Kolkata, North-East, Uttar Pradesh (West) and Rajasthan. \

Loop will officially close down on May 15th, 2012 and is requesting affected users to switch to other operators by 30th April using Mobile Number Portability.

Loop mobile will continue its operation in Mumbai circle where it has a largest base of 32 Lakh subscribers. For Mumbai, Loop had taken over reigns from BPL mobile prior to 2008, so that license does not have any effect of Supreme court ruling.

Only about 6000 users will be affected by this – the number of mobile subscribers Loop has outside of Mumbai. Loop was given license to operate in 21 circles in 2008 during the reigns of Telecom Minister A. Raja.

What will be really interesting to see in coming days are the developments with 2 other operators, Sistema (JV partner in SSTL- Sistema Shyam TeleServices Ltd) & Telenor (JV partner in Uninor) , whose licenses have also been cancelled. Unlike Loop, S Tel & Etisalat, these 2 operators have sizeable subscriber base. Infact, Uninor has been performing spectacularly well over past few months.

According to latest figures from TRAI, Uninor has over 41 million subscribers and has over 4.5 percent market share. Even Sistema has a subscriber base of 15.4 million as of February 2012.

7.44 Million new mobile subscribers added in Feb–Total reaches 911

Arun Prabhudesai — Mon, 09 Apr 2012 05:07:12 +0000

It is clear that telecom growth has tapered down. Previous average growth rate (from 2007 to 2011) was about 15 million subscribers per month, which is now averaging about 7 million per month. According to the latest report by Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI), which publishes telecom numbers every month has reported that in February 2012, India witnessed addition of 7.44 million new mobile subscribers. The total tally now stands at 911.2 million mobile subscribers.

Mobile Subscriber Additions in India over last 12 months

Telecom Subscription data highlights [Feb 2012]

7.44 million new wireless subscribers were added at monthly growth rate of 0.82% taking total tally to 911 million.
Rural mobile subscriber growth rate (4.43 mln at 1.42% growth rate) is far outpacing urban growth rate (3.01 mln at 0.51% growth rate)
Urban Teledensity stands at 162.61 as compared to rural’s 37.62
India currently has overall Teledensity of 78.10 percent.
India currently has 594 million Urban and 317 million rural subscribers
Mobile Number Portability requests increased from 32.79 million subscribers at the end of January 2012 to 37.11 million at the end of February 2012.
In the month of February 2012 alone, 4.32 million requests have been made for MNP.
Active Mobile Subscriber base stands at 670.65 million (73.5%)
India reached 13.54 million Broadband Subscribers in Fed 2012
Delhi has the highest teledensity of 236%, while Assam has the lowest of 45.46%

Operator Wise Net Subscriber Addition (Feb 2012)

Idea & Uninor seem to be the biggest beneficiaries of Mobile Number Portability with both operators alone accounting for 2/3rds of all subscriber additions. Idea added 2.58 million (34.7 percent) new mobile subscribers to its kitty, Uninor followed it with addition of 2.34 million (31.48%) new mobile subscribers. Tata’s slide over past 6 month continues – They seem to have got hit the most due to MNP, with hordes of their subscribers moving to other providers. They lost over 1.83 million subscribers in month of February alone!

Operator Wise Telecom Market Share (Jan 2012)

Among the new Telecom providers, Uninor has shown impressive growth rate and now has close to 4.52 percent of Indian Market share while Tata who had over 11% of Indian market share less than 12 months back have lost over 2% share. Idea is also showing impressive growth and now has 12.15% of Indian mobile market share. Bharti’s market share has been more or less constant with 19.62%.

In early 2011, I was quite confident that by end of last year we would witness a billion subscribers, but that’s not the case. We are still 90 million subscribers away from that magic figure and given the slow growth rates, it looks unlikely that we may reach it this year as well!

What do you think?

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3G connections in India: From 10 to 100 million in 2 years?

Arun Prabhudesai — Tue, 03 Apr 2012 16:23:59 +0000

GSMA India has come out with a report that puts forth some interesting growth numbers for mobile Broadband connections in India. According to the press release India is slated to become 2nd largest Mobile Broadband market globally in next four years with 367 million Mobile Broadband connections by 2016. With those kind of numbers, India will overtake the US and will be second only to China who are expected to have a whooping 639 million mobile broadband connections.

What is even more surprising is the expected growth of 3G in next 2 years – The report states that 3G connections, currently at 10 million, will grow exponentially by 900 percent, to touch 100 million by 2014. With those numbers India will become the largest HSPA market, surpassing China, Japan and the US in the process.

The Director General of GSMA Anne Bouverot shared an interesting insight – She mentioned:

A 10 per cent increase in Mobile Broadband penetration could contribute as much as US$80 billion (INR 3,506 billion) of revenue across the country’s transport, healthcare and education sectors by 2015.”

Our take: Although the report puts forth some rosy figures in terms of Mobile Broadband growth, ground reality is quite different. 3G has not seen the kind of growth expected after 3G licenses were first awarded to mobile operators in India in September 2010. Infact, mobile operators are still struggling to offer stable and fast 3G connections on their network. Many subscribers have switched back to GPRS/Edge connectivity after using 3G, as they have been extremely dis-satisfied with the connectivity.

Additionally, the 3G prices in India are still very high comparatively making it unaffordable to majority of mobile users. The growth numbers put across by the report can only be achieved if 3G prices come down drastically, which at present moment looks quite difficult as the operators have to recover huge sums they have paid to Government for acquisition of spectrum. Indian Telecom Operators will also have to improve the 3G services on their network.