Top mobile makers lose out to small players

A handset sold by Symphony Cell. Source: http://symphonycell.com/products/X120

Top mobile makers lose out to small players

Jasim Uddin Haroon

Top mobile makers lose out to small players
The world’s top cellphone makers are losing out to small players in Bangladesh market as cheaper prices have lured users to switch over to non-brand handsets.

Positions of US-based Motorola, LG, Sony Ericsson, a joint venture of Japan and Sweden, slipped back in the last 10 months ending October, according to a report prepared by mobile set manufacturers.

The mobile phone companies have prepared the report, compiling data from customs offices and retailers.

The report also said all the large manufacturers, except Nokia, lost grounds to companies that make handsets, which have little brand value.

At 49.9 per cent market share, the Finnish handset maker Nokia remained top seller in the country during January-October period.

“We had market shares worth 56 per cent even in 2009. We lost good shares to the non-brand mobile set makers,” said a senior official of Nokia Bangladesh.

Local Symphony, a new entrant in the market, has occupied the second position in the country’s rapidly growing mobile market, which sees a sale of 10 million pieces a year. Symphony has garnered a market share as high as 12 per cent.

It increased its shares and became popular mobile operating system after Nokia mainly due to the introduction of dual SIM and cheap prices.

“Our dual SIM system and built-in internet facilities are main reasons behind the popularity in the country,” said an official working its office in the city.

Sprint, a locally assembled mobile set company, has market shares of 8.0 per cent as it has elbowed out the Korean giant Samsung.

Other non-brand mobile phone sets mainly imported from China had a combined market share of 19.1 per cent in 2010.

Bangladesh’s mobile phone market has been growing on an average 44 per cent year-on-year basis. The growth rate is considered one of the highest in the world.

However, Samsung, a Korean brand and the world’s largest electronics goods seller, has retained its top five positions, although its shares dropped to 5.8 per cent in 2010.

One senior Nokia official told the FE: “We’re facing challenges now due to the increasing dominance of non-brand products in the market.”

He, however, claimed that customers would buy brand products when they see overall benefit from the sets.

The total number of mobile phone active subscribers has reached 65.142 million at the end of September 2010, according to Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission.

source:http://www.thefinancialexpress-bd.com/more.php?news_id=117470&date=2010-11-13