Smartphone shipments cross 10-mn mark in 2011

Smartphone shipments touched 10 million units in the first eleven months of the calendar year 2011, estimates CyberMedia Research (CMR).

In its report titled 'India Monthly Mobile Handsets Market Review', CMR claims that November last year was the third consecutive month when smartphone shipments in India crossed one million units and saw the launch of 23 smartphone models.

"The launch of dual-SIM smartphones is a new trend," said Tarun Pathak, telecom analyst (Monthly Mobile Phones Market Review Program), CMR.

For November last year, CMR estimates that Indian mobile handsets' market recorded sales of 15.4 million units.

Nokia retained leadership position in the overall mobile handsets' market, with 28 per cent share, followed by Samsung (12 per cent) and Micromax (four per cent), in November.

CMR's lead analyst (telecoms practice), Naveen Mishra, says as the device side of the data services ecosystem, signified by the growth in shipments of smartphones and 3G-enabled

handsets, reaches a critical mass, telcos in India will need to beef up networks and tie with publishing companies and content developers.

"It is important for the three-part ecosystem of device vendors, content companies and telecom service providers to invest in attractive and relevant content packages for the growing segment of 3G-device and smartphone users. This will help grow data consumption and lead to improvement in telco ARPUs," Mishra said.

Total 3G phone shipments touched 15.5 million in the first eleven months of CY 2011, according to CMR analysts, with close to 224 models launched by 26 vendors.

Multi-SIM mobile handset shipments accounted for 54 per cent of the total India mobile handsets market in November 2011.

Nokia, a late entrant to the multi-SIM device category, made up by having as many as seven models on offer by November 2011 and now leads the category with 19 per cent market share, followed by Micromax with 7.1 per cent and Karbonn with 6.9 per cent.