In india, the second largest telecommunications market in the world, micromax and karbonn rose rapidly from a silent to a leading mobile phone producer. However, with the start-up of chinese mobile phone companies such as mi, oper and kim li targeting indian consumers who are more price-oriented than brand-named, these indian mobile phone manufacturers are caught in a fight for prices and functionality for low-end mobile phone buyers in india。
The indian market research agency cybermedia estimates that the current market share of the chinese brand is less than 5 per cent, but the sudden rise of the previously unnamed indian brand suggests that market leaders may change rapidly in this south asian country when consumers have the right prices to choose the right commodity。
According to data provided by the research institute international data corporation, the market share of india's largest mobile phone brand, micromax, was just over 1 per cent in 2008, but its current share is over 40 per cent。
China's smartphone producer, kim li, believes that the company's market share in india can also achieve a similar surge. Kim li's market share is currently about 3 per cent in india, compared to only 1 per cent last year。
Alvind vohla, the head of indian operations in kimmy smartphones, stated that he had been taking over the market shares of transnational corporations and indigenous indian brands through the introduction of a range of products with competitive prices。
Another chinese mobile phone producer, opper, has also been expanding its market share in india. The company launched a series of smart phones in the indian market earlier this year, with a minimum price of rs. 8990 (approximately $146)。
One of the directors of oprah india stated that oprah's pricing was reasonable and had brought strong competition to indian indigenous brands。
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For the new chinese mobile phone manufacturers, their weakness lies in the distribution network of india, a vast country. Most of the more than 1. 2 billion people in india live outside major cities. For example, karbonn, one of the low-cost brands in india that is market-leading, has covered over 85,000 retail outlets。
Chinese mobile brands want consumers to pay for their online sales. The executive of the millet phone [webbo] indicated that direct sales to consumers would save 30 per cent per mobile phone。
Mi will sell through one of india's largest online stores, and oper will sell mobile phones on the indian website amazon [web]. In。
China mobile phone manufacturers also need to set up service centres. Consumers in india use the same mobile phone longer than consumers in other countries around the world. Any new brand that cannot repair broken mobile phones will soon have bad reputation。
Oprah has plans to establish over 200 service centres in india by may of next year, while kim li plans to have about 750 mobile phone maintenance sites in india by 2015。
Responsible editor: zhang dei
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