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When India leads |
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By: Balaji Narasimhan |
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Date:
2008-10-27 |
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Place: Bangalore |
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 On 24 August 1995, something happened in technology that affected India before the US Windows 95 was launched here before it was available in the US. This was because Microsoft decreed that vendors could sell copies of the OS at midnight local time, which meant that Indians got to see the product a few hours before their US counterparts. But times have changed.
In 2008, Indians will get to see the Nokia 5800, the touch phone that is claimed to take on the iPhone, a few months before anybody in the US. Confirming this, a Nokia spokesperson whom iT ADDA contacted, said, "As we do with all products, we will roll out the Nokia 5800 XpressMusic in select markets globally. The first shipments of the Nokia 5800 XpressMusic will begin in markets including Russia, Spain, India as well as parts of Asia Pacific and the Middle East."
What about the US? Nokia says that, "In other (the emphasis is ours) key markets, like the US, which require greater operator variation, the Nokia 5800 XpressMusic will be available early next year. Nokia 5800 XpressMusic will be rolled out in India by the end of this year."
Is the US, which has long been one of the dominant markets worldwide, is now being defined as "other" markets? One could easily dismiss this, and say Nokia is merely wary of taking on the iPhone during the Christmas season, but fear perhaps doesn't have much to do with this decision. It seems like a more critical force is operating here -- the changing world order that defines India's importance.
According to International Telecommunications Union (ITU), mobile phone subscriptions are expected to reach 4 billion by the end of 2008, up from the figure of 3.3 billion by the end of 2007. ITU says that four countries Brazil, Russia, India and China â are expected to account for over 1.3 billion mobile subscribers by the end of 2008. China here is the most important nation, with over 600 million by mid-2008, which makes it the world's biggest mobile phone market. India, with around 296 million subscribers by the end of July, is also a market to reckon with.
But, while markets like India and China are growing, there doesn't seem to be much to cheer insofar as the general global outlook is concerned. According to Reuters, UBS analyst Maynard Um halved his forecast for 2009 global handset growth to 3 per cent from 6 per cent. This points to a particular weakness in Europe and North America. JP Morgan analyst Ehud Gelblum was more optimistic, but still cut his expectations for 2009 handset growth to 6.1 per cent from 8.1 per cent. He cited consumer reluctance to upgrade phones, particularly in Europe, and more modest growth in China, one of the fastest-expanding mobile markets.
Given the above backdrop, Nokia's interest in India as a far better market than the US is clear. A pity that this logic doesn't extend beyond technology it would be so nice to get a Bentley here before it gets launched in England! |
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