Mobile Handset Market Share – Nokia leads, Samsung overtakes Motorola

June 10, 2008
By sinha

Nokia of course leads the pack, but the surprise comes from Samsung.

Samsung has overtaken Motorola in India’s handset market (for the third place), as per the latest ORG figures.

Handset Market Share

  • Nokia: 59.5%
  • Sony: 8.1%
  • Samsung: 7%
  • Motorola: 5.9%

Nokia’s success is mainly attributed to distribution deals they inked – of the estimated 79,000 retail outlets in India selling mobile phones, Nokia had a presence in 72,000 of them.[source]

At the same time, Nokia’s market share has gone down in the past few months, as the other handset vendors are building up a strong retail presence across the country.

What other attributes do you think has made Nokia such a roaring success in India?

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               About the author - Ashish Sinha is a Startup Mentor/Product Strategy Coach, and the founder/chief editor of pluGGd.in. He has launched/managed couple of products (consumer as well as enterprise) in US and India, and now consults with startups/small businesses on their product/media strategy. He can be reached at: ashish (at) pluGGd.in [+91 98452 06443]

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29 Responses to “ Mobile Handset Market Share – Nokia leads, Samsung overtakes Motorola ”

  1. Mahesh on June 10, 2008 at 12:09 pm

    From Customer point of View: Its Battery Life, Best Out Look Design so that Common Man operate, Easy GUI and also price factor.

    From Company Point of View: Top managements are being local who will have better understanding of “Aam Aadami” spending. Better Distribution partner with Airtel.

    I am looking for more factors, as i think this is second successful MNC company next to Unilever which is mega successful company in india.

    • ashu on August 16, 2009 at 11:51 pm

      althogh i agree with battry life but next two points also found in lg and samsung,they are also easy to operate and low priced, according to me the word of mouth publicity makes them market leader in indian market, people between age group of 35 to 45 are just great fan of nokia because of its quality asssurence, so my frnd add these factors in ur list also…

      • ravi on October 29, 2009 at 8:36 pm

        hi Ashu……. u r also one to make strong mouth publicity…thats why we are most trustd brand from lsat two years….

  2. Tarun Matta on June 10, 2008 at 4:31 pm

    I think these figures are only for GSM handsets. It would be interesting to see how the landscape changes if you count CDMA (which you should) handsets as well.

  3. [...] has got the message a while ago, and as pluggd India reports, it commands 60% percent of the market with distribution deals that covers more than 90% of [...]

  4. dancing kangaro on June 24, 2008 at 1:19 pm

    Nokia Customer Service Sucks !

    Guwahati the 24th June 2008 : Recently, the microphone of my Nokia E90 handset (which I bought in February 2008) wouldn’t pick up my voice when I dial or receive a call and I had the “pleasure????” of experiencing the after sales service of Nokia India, the most popular and largest mobile handset company in India. It was a nightmare to say the least !

    On 21st June 2008 (Saturday) at 2 pm in the afternoon, I walked into the Nokia Care (the authorized service centre of Nokia) located at Garima Grand Building, Dr. B. Baruah Road, Ulubari, Guwahati, Assam – 781 007. As soon as walked in I saw about 40 odd customers (mostly men) waiting………….!!!!! for their turn to be attended by Nokia Customer Service Executives. My first impression was “Oh, God ! is this the rate at which Nokia phones are developing problems?” I was perplexed because I held Nokia in very high esteem (till that day!) because it is the most technologically superior company in the mobile handset market. I pondered again and explained to myself that may be because they have 62.5% market share (survey by Voice & Data, Y2007-08) and hence the crowd is big !

    Gathering myself, I walked up to the Security Guard who handed me a coupon printed ‘134’ which was my serial number to meet the Customer Service Executive who would listen to my problem and receive my handset for repair. On my enquiry the Guard told me that the serial number ‘92’ was being attended to, at the moment. The serial numbers were moving very slowly and couple of customers sitting next to me told that they had been waiting for their turn for the past 2 hours ! For couple of them it was their second visit to Nokia Care in a weeks’ time as their phones were returned without satisfactory repairing work! For a moment, I thought of leaving but again I did not want to go to an Unauthorized service personnel with my Nokia E90 which cost me a fortune just 4 months ago. So, I had no option but to succumb and wait and be held hostage by Nokia for next 2 (two) hours ! I had a couple of other things planned for the Saturday afternoon but I dropped everything. We have been enslaved by technology and by these companies and they have made us so dependent on them !

    As I was waiting, I observed that there were 7 (seven) counters set up for receiving faulty handsets from customers but only 2 (two) were operational and hence the queue of 40 odd customers waiting at any given point of time. This is ridiculous !!! ….very unbecoming of a company like Nokia which is the technology leader and commands 62.5% market share. I have not heard of any product category where the market leader alone would command as much as 62.5% market share. I am sure everybody at Nokia is PROUD of this. But, they should be equally EMBARRASSED for making their customers wait for 2 long hours, just to deposit their faulty handsets for repair. Is Nokia being COMPLACENT? If that be so, I am afraid, the history will prove them wrong.

    While waiting I even spoke over phone to a Nokia Company representative by the name of ‘Sachin” who took the call on Sudha’s cell phone (I hope he told me his real name) and told him that Nokia urgently needs to spruce up its customer care at Guwahati and DO AWAY WITH FRANCHISEES WHO CANNOT PROVIDE ADEQUATE AND HASSTLE FREE SERVICE TO THE CUSTOMERS !

    Finally, my turn to meet the customer service executive came at 4.15pm, after a full two hours fifteen minutes of waiting …….!!!!! They took my phone and asked me to come back on Tuesday (24the June 2008) evening …… after a full three days !! Prior to this experience, I was one of biggest fans of Nokia for bringing to customers a technologically superior product. But, not after this experience ! Though I still admire their technological leadership but beware Nokia Customers …..their after sales service really SUCKS ! ….”Nokia Care” DOESN”T CARE ! IT SUCKS !!!

    Today is Tuesday the 24th June 2008……..I am going to Nokia Care in the evening ……I hope they deliver my phone in time and salvage some of their lost pride !!!

    (This Unfortunate Nokia Customer can be contacted at dancing_kangaro@yahoo.com)

  5. [...] Nokia’s market share in India is ~60% and much of that has been achieved thru’ distribution and operator partnership. iPhone’s entry, expected price point (available for $199 in US, so maybe 10K in India?), and most importantly, the coolness and associated hype-ness can dent Nokia’s market share in India. Commenting on Apple’s new product offering, Olli-Pekka Kallasvuo, president and CEO, Nokia Corporation, said: “iPhone is going to have an impact on Nokia’s business in India. First, it is a new competitor, and second, it will increase customers’ interest in the market.” [...]

  6. rajeev on July 19, 2008 at 12:44 am

    even i had the pleasure???????? of experiencing the nokia care.it was a long que in the noida nokia care ,damm it was approx 3 hrs waiting time.thank god my homes nearby so i came back after some 3 hrs,and still had to wait 15 mins more…then u get inside,their so called engineers rape the whole mobile even for the smallest issue.got the phone back in a days time.but beware when u go to nokia care,its very filthy and bad air inside as the max people present in the que are from the poor class…oh man its so bad smelling from inside that u cant even sit for 5 mins

  7. Jai Awatramani on September 26, 2008 at 1:32 pm

    Hi!! I am from NMIMS, MBA (Tech.), i with my friend aliasgar have done a 309 sample survey covering, mobile phone defects, custome satisfaction, we are presenting it to neilson, soon you would see shocking results in the market

    • rajkumar on May 6, 2009 at 1:27 pm

      hi
      nice to hear
      could u plz tell me about ur report?
      according to yu which is at present the best mobile comp in india?
      wat do u think about nokia,sony ericsson adn samsung?

      hope to hjear soon from yu

    • rajkumar on May 6, 2009 at 1:28 pm

      hi Jai Awatramani
      cud u help me in mobile selections?
      nice to know about ur report upcoming

    • Tathagata Bhattacharjee on November 11, 2009 at 11:32 pm

      Hiiiiiii Jai dis is tathagata from kolkata i am also want to know ur project report of nokia because i am also doing a project for nokia so if u dnt mnd can u plz help me to do the project and my mail id is tbhattacharjee87@gmail.com

  8. Jai Awatramani on September 26, 2008 at 1:39 pm

    hi my mail is is jai.awatramani@yahoo.co.in

  9. akshay solomon on December 8, 2008 at 5:16 pm

    samsung is the best brand,samsung will be on no.1very soon.

    • gaurav on July 24, 2009 at 4:45 pm

      who told u dear , that samsung will be the next top brand ##?????

      • raj on October 26, 2009 at 5:38 pm

        Gaurav its not like that.In one side if u c den u r write but if u look 2 other side den intrnly samsung is going down.They have invested 2much to go up & thats the reason now they r in big trouble

    • ravi on October 29, 2009 at 8:54 pm

      hi akshay,
      i hope so………

  10. sumit on December 9, 2008 at 11:20 pm

    your share wrong because sony market share to low but you show second position

  11. Mahesh Tiwari on April 30, 2009 at 5:28 pm

    I am looking for more factors, as i think this is second successful MNC company next to Unilever which is mega successful company in india.

  12. Viki on May 11, 2009 at 2:24 pm

    Nokia is the most preferable model in the mobile world. For the best video and audio results, Samsung is the best.

  13. Avinash on May 14, 2009 at 2:49 pm

    hey guys why forget about Sony……….Man…..i have used three brands uptil now Nokia…..SAMSUNG…….SONY

    and i say the best in the sense of high compatibility and good software and all SONY IS THE BEST

    • ravi on October 29, 2009 at 8:58 pm

      hi avinash,
      to make brand succsesfull it shiuld have three factors
      1.visibilty
      2.avilivilty
      3.cost
      n now if we talks about sony
      we cant get at smaller town
      no larg posm and t.v adds n media support vs nokia&sumsung
      its very costly and difficult to use….

  14. Sanjeev on October 10, 2009 at 12:25 pm

    Nokia’s sucess is first distribution than brand and afterall trust in the brand is most important that comes with servicing and good products offered time to time

  15. Tathagata Bhattacharjee on November 11, 2009 at 11:27 pm

    What are the loofalls nokia had in compare to samsung cld u plz tell me that????????

  16. anandakannan on November 16, 2009 at 6:49 pm

    nokia is number one brand in india but
    they have not take any interest in volume and music clarity compare to sony and samsung mobiles thats why nokia market share getting down nowadays pls concentrate these too

  17. GAJENDRA on January 3, 2010 at 3:51 pm

    SAMSUNG IS MARCH09 NO.1 BRAND

  18. guddu on February 2, 2010 at 7:00 pm

    Nokia has explored indian market long back, enjoys No1 position because of its durability has good applications (but their arsenal of mobile handsets is falling short due to too many competitors,launch more phones dear)

    Sony products are good but over priced and complex (some ppl are ardent fans)

    Samsung is slowly moving up as it did in US.
    They have agressive marketing and good blend of mobile phones.

    The battle is worth watching

  19. lilima on February 24, 2010 at 1:40 am

    i think nokia is the only company who offer his best to consumer

  20. Ravinder on March 18, 2010 at 12:52 pm

    Superb site and give opportunity to feedback Good mgmt trick

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