Tag Archives: Smartphones

Competition Among Chipset Players and Its Impact on Smartphones Adoption in the Emerging Markets

In the recent years, the availability and easy access to Android operating system, and reducing costs of various components (such as display, memory, battery, etc.) have been driving the cost of smartphones down. We expect 2013 to be the year … Continue reading

Posted in Business Model, Chipsets, Emerging Markets, Smartphones | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Is India Ready for Mass-Market Wi-Fi Offload? We Think Yes!

With a surge in interest from nearly the entire mobile industry (save a few established 3G/LTE giants) in seamless Wi-Fi offload, has the time come for India? In many ways India is nothing less than the textbook case for Wi-Fi: … Continue reading

Posted in Business Model, Carriers, Emerging Markets, India, Spectrum, Technology, Wi-Fi Offloading | Tagged , , , , , | 1 Comment

India Smartphone Outlook for 2013

2012 Smartphone Year in Review: The smartphones sales in India grew over 100% (year-on-year) in 2012 to reach 20 to 22 million units. For the first time, monthly sales crossed 2 million units in Q4 and smartphones breached the USD … Continue reading

Posted in Business Model, Consumer, India, Mobile Devices, OS, Smartphones | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 5 Comments

Comparison of China & India Smartphone Markets

China and India are the world’s biggest mobile markets with 1.05 billion and 934 million subscribers respectively. At the end of 2011, the smartphones installed base in both these markets was less than 100 million (over 90 million in China and … Continue reading

Posted in App Stores, Apps, China, Emerging Markets, India, Smartphones, Technology | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 7 Comments

Nokia’s Smartphone Revival – Hits, Misses and Current Options for the Company

Yesterday, I was reading an article on an Indian business blog where the author presented some interesting scenarios and a compelling argument for Nokia’s turnaround, based on their smartphone devices and OS strategy. He presented the fact that Nokia currently … Continue reading

Posted in App Stores, Apps, Business Model, Mobile Devices, OS, Profitability, Smartphones, Telecom | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 9 Comments

Indian Mobile App Developer Dynamics – Key Challenges and Opportunities

There are close to 10,000 companies developing mobile applications in India. Together, they employ over 250,000 developers. Most of the mobile app development work carried out by Indian developers is limited to product development (software coding) and validation (testing) and … Continue reading

Posted in App Stores, Apps, Business Model, Mobile Devices, OS, PE/VC, Smartphones, Telecom, VAS | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | 5 Comments

Is India Ready for Customized and Branded Mobile App Stores?

Branded mobile application stores (app stores) by both device OEMs and carriers have existed in India for a while, and continue to be launched. Nokia launched its ‘Ovi store’  in 2009 (later rebranded as ‘Nokia Store), Airtel has its ‘App Central’, … Continue reading

Posted in App Stores, Apps, Business Model, Convergence, Digitization, Mobile Devices, OS, Smartphones, Telecom, VAS | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 5 Comments

Technology Manifestation Cycles for ‘True Convergence’

Apple continues to set the bar higher with the release of the new iPad in March 2012. This is really an evolutionary step forward on the features and functionalities on what has been established as the defacto standard for tablets … Continue reading

Posted in Convergence, Mobile Devices, Smartphones, Tablets, Telecom | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 6 Comments

Evolution of Indian Handset OEMs – History, Current State and Future Outlook

In early 2008, there were only 6 to 8 brands operating in the Indian mobile devices market, and almost all of them were global. This number increased to over 180 by 2011. Young Indian handset vendors such as Micromax, Karbonn, … Continue reading

Posted in Business Model, Mobile Devices, OS, Profitability, Smartphones | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

India Smartphone Outlook for 2012

2011 was the first big year for smartphones in India. Convergence Catalyst estimates between 9 to 9.5M smartphones to have been sold in India in 2011. October was a landmark month having witnessed smartphone sales crossing the 1 million mark. … Continue reading

Posted in Mobile Devices, OS, Smartphones, Telecom | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 20 Comments