BWI: Need for Converged Devices Makes a Case for Smartphones in India, Finds Frost & Sullivan

Press release from Business Wire India
Source: Frost & Sullivan
Monday, April 12, 2010 02:06 PM IST (08:36 AM GMT)
Editors: General: Consumer interest, Entertainment; Business: Advertising, PR & marketing, Electronic appliances & components, Information technology, Telecommunications; Technology
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Need for Converged Devices Makes a Case for Smartphones in India, Finds Frost & Sullivan


Mumbai, Maharashtra, India, Monday, April 12, 2010 -- (Business Wire India) -- Smartphones are expected to hit a purple patch in the Indian market, as consumers increasingly seek a single converged device to support multiple functionalities on the go. Smartphones cater to both individual and enterprise users due to their consumer- and productivity-centric approaches.

The application development community and mobile operating systems participants are the key enablers of smartphone ecosystem, wherein users prefer a single point of access and management of content. In this scenario, product innovation and the application portfolio will be the primary market growth drivers.

New analysis from Frost & Sullivan (http://www.wireless.frost.com), Smartphone Market Outlook: India, thoroughly examines the following application development communities: handset manufacturers {original equipment manufacturers (OEMs)}, telecom service providers, and content developers/operating system providers.

If you are interested more information on this study, please send an e-mail to Caroline Lewis/ Nimisha Iyer, Corporate Communications, at caroline.lewis@frost.com / niyer@frost.com, with your full name, company name, title, telephone number, company e-mail address, company website, city, state and country.

"With Web 2.0 (social networking, microblogging) technologies gaining traction and the youth demographic keen on adopting smartphones, applications are expected to emerge as the key differentiating factor," says Frost & Sullivan Senior Research Analyst Thejaswi Parameshwaran. "Touch screen technologies and customized interfaces in terms of innovative product features will also propel the market ahead."

With the urban markets having matured in terms of feature phone usage, numerous mobile users in this demographic are looking to upgrade to a smartphone. This replacement market will be predominantly populated by the younger demographic, which are early adopters of technology and avid users of Web 2.0 technologies.

"The smartphone ecosystem is looking to build a distinct identity in the application community with handset manufacturers, service providers, and operating system developers having content portals that enable consumers to access a wide variety of applications," notes Parameshwaran. "However, over 70 percent of the population consumes only voice services, and data services have not yet gained traction, which can slow down the adoption rates of smartphones."

To compound participants' issues, the existing data bandwidth is insufficient to support data-intensive applications. They are hoping to remedy this issue and support smartphone-based applications by deploying high-speed 3G networks.

In a highly competitive market where handset manufacturers and service providers vie for subscribers, a comprehensive value proposition is likely to be the factor that will tip the scales. Both these stakeholders will be aiming to lure consumers with an end-to-end service offering, significant investment in product R&D, and attractive revenue sharing agreements with content developers.

Meanwhile, with the emergence of open source operating systems, there is a paradigm shift toward a collaborative ecosystem, wherein participants leverage each other's expertise. This has fostered an environment of strategic alliances that will help offer a one-stop shop for handsets, data plans, and the point of access for an application ecosystem.

"All participants of the ecosystem will have to collaborate to develop an end-to-end value proposition that will engage consumers and thereby, increase customer loyalty and satisfaction," observes Parameshwaran.

Smartphone Market Outlook: India is part of the Mobile & Wireless Growth Partnership Services program, which also includes research in the following markets: Mobile & Wireless Market Report, Analysis of Telecom Service Provider (TSP) CAPEX in SAME, and Indian OSS and BSS Market Overview. All research services included in subscriptions provide detailed market opportunities and industry trends that have been evaluated following extensive interviews with market participants.

About Frost & Sullivan

Frost & Sullivan, the Growth Partnership Company, enables clients to accelerate growth and achieve best-in-class positions in growth, innovation and leadership. The company's Growth Partnership Service provides the CEO and the CEO's Growth Team with disciplined research and best-practice models to drive the generation, evaluation, and implementation of powerful growth strategies. Frost & Sullivan leverages over 45 years of experience in partnering with Global 1000 companies, emerging businesses and the investment community from 40 offices on six continents. To join our Growth Partnership, please visit http://www.frost.com.

Smartphone Market Outlook: India
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CONTACT DETAILS
Caroline Lewis Corporate Communications - South Asia, Frost & Sullivan, +91 9821737935, caroline.lewis@frost.com
Tanu Chopra Corporate Communications - Middle East, Frost & Sullivan, +91 (22) 40013437, tanu.chopra@frost.com
Nimisha Iyer Corporate Communications - South Asia & Middle East, Frost & Sullivan, +91 9820050519, niyer@frost.com

KEYWORDS
CONSUMER, ENTERTAINMENT, MARKETING, ELECTRONICS, IT, TELECOMMUNICATIONS, TECHNOLOGY

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