India has remained a huge market for phone makers. Analysts say as many as 135 million mobile phones were sold in the country during the first nine months this year.
According to technology firm Cybermedia, 47 million units were sold in the second quarter alone, registering a record 12.5 per cent growth.
In fact, the appetite for cell phones appeared to have decreased during the first fiscal quarter 2011, but the market recovered dramatically in the quarter July-September.
Finnish mobile giant Nokia (News 
- Alert) successfully retained the leadership position with 30 percent market share, followed by Samsung with 11.6 percent. Given the market share, Nokia seems to be far ahead of its competitors, as its cost-effective phones are in high demand everywhere in the country.
Even smartphones are seeing large buyers. In the first nine months of calendar year 2011, 7.9 million units of smartphones were sold. In September alone, as many as one million feature-rich phones were sold.
Among the phones, according to the report, dual-SIM and multi-SIM handsets accounted for 55.8 percent total mobile devices shipped in the country in the July-September quarter.
Nokia sensed the growing demand for multi-SIM devices, and it unveiled five models to keep control on the market, the report added.
“Smartphones are witnessing an increased adoption in the India market; not only amongst business executives but also among the youth as such devices offer superior usability, entertainment and functional capabilities,” stated Naveen Mishra, lead analyst of CyberMedia Research Telecoms Practice.
“In the coming months the India smartphones market is expected to become even more crowded as more vendors, particularly those from India and China, look to add these devices to their portfolio,” added Tarun Pathak, analyst, Monthly Mobile Phones Market ReviewProgram, CyberMedia Research Telecoms Practice.
Narayan Bhat is a contributing editor for TMCnet. To read more of Narayan’s articles, please visit his columnist page.Edited by
Jennifer Russell
