KOCHI: Indian mobile phone market continues to be dominated by ordinary phones known as feature phones which have 70 percent market share in the country against the share of 30 percent by smart phones, according to an industry player. “The smart phones increased their market share by 15 percent in the last two years and it will take at least five more years for the smart phones to dominate the market. This is against the presence of 80 percent smart phones in the developed world. In Kerala market, the ratio of non-smart and smart phones stands at 65:35 now,” said Mr Sudhir Kumar, India CEO of China-based itel mobiles.
“The masses in India continue to use the ordinary phone, including those who are old and getting old, the former due to its affordability and the latter groups due to convenience in use compared to smart phones,” said Mr Sudhir Kumar whose firm has now forayed into the Kerala market with ordinary phones in the price range of '650-'3,000 and smart phones above that. “We added features like provision to take selfie and internet accessibility using GPRS in the ordinary phones and could sell 2.7 million phones in four months of operation in India market, of which one million was in August itself,” he said.
“It will take at least another five more years for the feature phones to lose prominence as the cost of smart phones is set to remain high due to high price of the components. We are aiming to tap this market,” said Mr Sudhir at an interaction here. The mobile operator having presence in 42 countries is employing the same strategy in the African continent to make the ordinary phones move ‘smart’ and has been successful also.
