LG Launches Six CDMA Handsets, Adds More Cookies to the Jar

LG launched six open market CDMA phones in India. The phones introduced by the brand include: LG 6160, LG 6210, LG 6300, LG 6400, LG 510 and LG 235.

LG 6160
This phone has an MP3 player with 3.5mm jack, FM Radio with recording, Torch, Upto 4GB expandable memory, Bluetooth, Hindi language support & a long battery life. The phone is priced at Rs. 2,649.

LG 6210
This phone packs in FM radio with recording, VGA camera with video recording, MP3 player with preset equalizers, Bluetooth, upto 4GB expandable memory. Some of the other features of the phone include FM sleep Timer which helps user to set FM to be auto-switched off after 15, 30 or 60 mins (based on the time set, FM will automatically be switched off), FM & MP3 playlist which can be played in the background while the user is experiencing some other feature in the phone, helpful tools such as City Distance Calculator, BMI (Body Mass Index) calculator, EMI calculator & Panchang. This phone has been launched in the Buzz category of LG Mobile phones & is priced at Rs. 2,999.

LG 6300
LG6300 is a music phone with features like 2.1 channel active sub-woofer and side-stereo speakers’ incredible sound. Other features include 2MP camera, MP3 player, Wireless FM with recording & editing and Bluetooth. The phone is priced at Rs. 4,749.

LG 6400
This is multimedia phone with 1.3MP camera and video recording, Wireless FM with FM recording, MP3 player with 3.5mm jack, 5.08cm screen, upto 4GB expandable memory, Bluetooth & Built-in modem. Apart from this, the phone offers Hinglish support & a great battery life. The phone is priced at Rs 4,425.

Cookie Zip (LG 510)
The LG Cookie Zip CDMA phone allows users to watch videos online and 24x7 with its internet access technology. See all the action come alive on its 7.6 cm wide WVGA full touch screen. Also enjoy full internet browsing and One Touch Social Networking on the go. Cookie Zip is priced at Rs. 8,000.

Cookie Spark (LG 235)
LG Cookie Glide comes with 5 MP camera and One Touch SNS update. Use their Wi-Fi capability to connect anytime, anywhere. The Cookie Spark which is priced at Rs. 5,898.

Karbonn Mobiles enters CDMA segment in India

 The Karbonn Mobiles is spreading its reach with its entry into the CDMA mobile phones' segment .

 With the crackdown on Chinese mobile phones, local handset manufacturers are looking at taking over the vacated spot. Karbonn Mobiles is one of them and is spreading its reach with its entry into the CDMA mobile phones' segment with the launch of five new devices for the Indian market, in the price range of Rs. 2,000 to Rs. 6,000.

The company aims to capture a market share of 7% - 10% in India in the multimedia phone segment in the current fiscal.

Pradeep Jain, Managing Director, Jaina Group said, “The response to the launch of the Karbonn Mobiles has been tremendous making Karbonn the fastest growingmobile phones brand in India in a short span of 6 months. As a company we are committed to bringing in the latest devices for the Indian consumers at competitive prices.  Today also marks our foray into the CDMA segment with the launch of five new devices.”

Karbonn Mobiles has already made an investment of US$5 million for product development and its marketing and sales operations in India. This is one of the largest investments by any indigenous entity in India in a short span of six months in themobile phones segment. The company is aiming for revenues in excess of Rs. 1,000 crore from its operations in the current fiscal year.

Karbonn Mobiles has also won the title sponsorship rights for the ongoing five matches one day series between India and Sri Lanka called "Karbonn Mobiles Cup".

Mobile number portability: Will you change your operator?

After a long wait, Indian mobile phone users will soon have the option to switch their service provider and retain their number.

After much debate, mobile number portability will be introduced in the country in December. How will it impact service providers? Customers unhappy with the service but attached to their number are likely to switch first.

Overseas, the churn has lasted two to six months after portability was introduced.

Thus, within the first half of 2010, service providers could end up with lesser market shares if they don't guard against the marketing moves of rivals.

IMRB, the market research outfit, has come out with a syndicated study called Switch to forecast the behaviour of mobile phone users after portability.

The survey was conducted across 40,000 subscribers who have owned a connection for at least three months (since subscribers can't use portability within 90 days of getting a connection, according to the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India), across all operators and the seven cities in which portability is slated to roll out first -- Mumbai, Ahmedabad, Pune, Bangalore, Chennai, Delhi and Hyderabad.

IMRB quizzed users on the importance of their numbers, their satisfaction with service providers and if the criteria set by TRAI such as paying Rs 250 and going without a network for two hours would deter a switch.

They were then asked if they wished to change and why. Thus, the study was able to track the likely churn or the number of subscribers who will shift from one service provider to the next, GSM to CDMA, pre-paid to post-paid and so on.



Who'll switch?

As many as 70 to 90 per cent subscribers feel it is extremely important to retain their current mobile number. After portability is allowed, the survey expects an average 20 per cent of the people to move out of their existing operators.

Delhi could see the highest churn of 24 per cent and Ahmedabad the lowest of 8 per cent. It says that 25 to 35 per cent subscribers will switch operators due to network congestion and another 17 to 25 per cent due to tariff options -- grievances that often top the dissatisfaction list of Indian subscribers.

Service providers say that with prepaid customers comprising more than 85 per cent of the Indian mobile telephony market, they are no strangers to churn. Says Idea Cellular chief corporate affairs officer Rajat Mukarji: "We already have a vibrant prepaid market where customers switch service providers periodically."

Surprise of surprises, only 10 to 20 per cent prepaid users on average told IMRB they want to switch. Portability, IMRB found out, will hit the relatively loyal and stable market of postpaid consumers harder.

This is crucial because such customers turn in higher revenue. Market estimates suggest the average revenue from a postpaid user is up to twice that of a prepaid user.

Fifty per cent of the postpaid users in the survey were willing to switch once portability is activated.

Ernst & Young Leader (telecommunication) Prashant Singhal points out that portability will appeal more to users in socio-economic categories A and B -- people who opt for a postpaid connection that requires a certain credit criteria and stronger address proof.

Subscribers in socio-economic categories C and D, Singhal feels, will not be affected much because they are primarily tariff-sensitive and don't dwell much on customer service or convenience of use.

Among post-paid users, reveals IMRB Group Business Director Sanjay Pal, there is a feeling of getting less from service providers than what they deserve.

There are satisfied subscribers also who might get tempted to switch to a new service provider if they can carry their number along, according to the survey.

Pal observes that despite a satisfaction rate of around 60 to 65 per cent among GSM users, the percentage of satisfied customers willing to move after portability could range from 6 to 20 per cent.

Only 6 per cent of Delhi's satisfied customers are willing to move, while Ahmedabad clocks the highest at 20 per cent. Pal attributes it to an "anti- incumbency factor" -- the tendency of users who still want to choose another operator even when it has nothing special to offer.

Switch estimates that for most players, the maximum movement of inflow and outflow (nearly 65 per cent) would occur in the first two months because those who have waited for portability will do so immediately.

It also underlines the importance to brace for churn in a brief span of time. It would trigger the need to pull customers as it would the need to retain existing customers.

Mukarji of Idea says: "In the first phase, users who have been less than six months with an operator will be most likely to port their numbers to other operators because they haven't yet developed a sense of comfort with their operator the way users with over a year's subscription would have."

Hence, Singhal says this will bring the quality of service to the fore in marketing campaigns of operators. "More and more players will talk about their network and what their customer service means, rather than harp on tariff schemes which most players have been doing till now."

Abdul Khan, head of marketing, Tata DoCoMo, says, "Both incumbents and challengers will have to shore up their overall customer experience measures."

It won't be inexpensive, mind you. Portability will require operators to share data and agree on porting charges and timelines as well as upgrade their technology. Singhal puts the investment at a few hundred million dollars. "The cost will work out to around $70 per subscriber that is acquired," he estimates.

Operators' bandwidth, service and accounting would be put to test with the extra inflow and outflow of subscribers. The survey also identifies outflow and inflow patterns that will help operators fine-tune their post-portability strategy.





CDMA vs GSM

Playing spoilsport for the operators will be disproportionate outflow and inflow ratios. In Mumbai, the survey found, a leading GSM player might get more subscribers than it loses, but the outflow is expected to take place at a faster pace.

Another GSM player in the city stands to gain 128 per cent (if 100 subscribers move out, 228 will move into its network from other operators).

In the same market, a CDMA player will experience a net impact of 80 per cent (will lose 180 subscribers for 100 it gains). The upshot is that CDMA users are more than willing to port to GSM networks. "High-revenue CDMA users are most likely to migrate to GSM," says Pal.

"A general shift from CDMA to GSM is too simplistic. CDMA operators issue handsets with connections that are locked to the operator's network. So when migrating to GSM, it would cost CDMA users more than just the cost of a SIM card.

They will have to invest in a handset as well," says Tata Teleservices Chief Marketing Officer Lloyd Mathias. "We are in the process of profiling users on their usage and handsets. For instance, we will contact those who have been with us for two years and have a monthly bill of Rs 1,000 and more with special offers such as discounts. This could be a group of a few hundreds or even 10,000."

While CDMA operators are expected to be hit the hardest, market leaders stand to gain the most because of their strong brand equity.

Players in the middle rungs, who don't lead yet, could be in the eye of the churn too, according to Pal. Singhal differs: "Players who are neither leaders nor newcomers will gain subscribers because of less congested networks (unlike leaders) and stronger customer service and infrastructure than new players, so they can handle the traffic better."

Brand pull and customer service will decide the drift for the operators. In Delhi, IMRB found that a GSM operator has a very strong pull over its rivals. Its market share is set to increase after portability, according to the survey.

"High-end customers will be more sensitive to branding and customer experience. Branding power in telecom becomes clear when users are ready to forgive their operator for its errors because the brand resonates with them," says Mukarji.

Spice D-80 and D-88 Dual Mode Handsets Price in India

Spice, one of the leading low cost mobile handset manufacturers in India has produced two cheaper mobile handsets in Indian market as Spice D-80 and Spice D-88. D-80 and D-88 are dual-mode handsets that supports both GSM and CDMA networks. It’s best for those people who want to use both GSM and CDMA without using two different handsets for them. One simple and effective set like these Spice dual mode handset is enough to get you going with both networks.

Both Spice D-80 and Spice D-88 support GSM and CDAM connections at the same time. This means that you can get a GSM SIM and a CDMA SIM and use them both in one single handset at the same time. These dual sim headsets in India is building a decent market share since many people prefer using both networks, keeping cost effectiveness and network coverage in eye. Additionally D-80 can support two active GSM connections at the same time.

These phones will be very helpful to those who have got two SIM cards or phone numbers and use two phones at a time to stay connected. The D-80 handset costs Rs. 9,849/- (limited stocks since Spice has already stopped producing D-80 handsets), while D-88 handsets are available in two models. D-88 n costs around rs. 5000 and D-88 Gold is priced around rs. 6000 in India.

"3-High" Functionality of Cellphones to Drive Market Growth in 2009: TRi

Topology Research Institute (TRi), the largest private market researcher and consultancy in Taiwan, predicts a certain downturn in the growth of cellphone sales in the first-half of 2009, with the market growth expected to slow to sub-double-digit levels.

TRi suggests cellphone and parts suppliers in Taiwan pay more attention to the smartphone sector.

One ray of optimism lies in the "three highs" functionality of cellphones, including high dependence, high integration, and high-speed Internet accessibility, with such features not only helping potential buyers of cellphones to defy any psychological barriers blocking purchase willingness amid the global economic fallout, TRi says, but also becoming the few warm underlying flows to churn chilly currents ahead.

High Dependence

For many in this generation of global e-connectedness, TRi points out, having a cellphone is perhaps even more critical than packing one`s keys, wallets or purses-becoming virtually an addiction in an age where massive migration of laborers and social uncertainties often exasperate loneliness, with cellphones being an electronic security blanket more than a communication device; not to mention that mobile phones are often the only available telephone in areas with sparse telecom infrastructure: The penetration of cellphones exceeds 51% in developing nations and 94% in developed markets.

TRi also says that cellphones differ from other consumer electronics in the high degree of dependence on the former: where high-dependence translates into high levels of personalization, meaning one user is often driven to own at least one or few mobile phones that are personalized with unique IDs and settings. Such dependence differs from ownership of typical home appliances where users generally do not mind sharing a toaster, iron with family and friends. TRi, however, does not psycho-analyze such market trends. For example, huge numbers of multi-phone owners could rely on such easily portable devices as affordable toys, a distraction that offers personal interaction that seems to be important for innumerable users whose lives are otherwise devoid of "substance;" while cellphone ownership, especially in emerging markets, is very likely a truly-affordable status symbol.

The handset is also, somewhat unsurprisingly, the last-abandoned electronic product, with all telecom providers locking subscribers with "deals that literally cannot be refused": users generally can buy costly cellphones at irresistible prices when they agree to sign two-year contracts in highly competitive markets, a strategy that is an excellent buffer in this global economic downturn, TRi says.

Citing a mainland Chinese example, TRi says that new cellphone subscribers increased about 8.6 million from January to August this year, compared with 7.75 million in the second half of 2007, despite the serious economic impact from the snow storms in February and global financial storm that began in mid-2008. The market researcher says that the cellphone market in China clearly seems unfazed amid the overall global downturn.

"One Price Buys Multi-functionality"

The market consultancy also attributes the upbeat market outlook to the "one price buys multi-functionality" characteristic of cellphones.

TRi says that an economic recession compromises spending willingness that drives consumers to delete various tech products from shopping lists. Multifunctional cell phones, in effect are many tech gadgets in one as defined by TRi, bear increasingly appealing marketability for being simultaneously digital camera, audio/video players, game console, portable navigation device (PND), PDA, or even a micro-computer.

Backing such observations, TRi cites the market changes in India: In 2008, sales of phones with built-in digital camera are rising in India, adding that in 2009 the "one price buys multi-functionality" feature of cellphones will help to significantly drive replacement purchases in that huge market and other developing nations.

While the resolution of camera-integrated cellphones continues to be upgraded, TRi forecasts that more than one billion music-enabled handsets will be shipped in 2009, for a penetration of 69.5%.

The market consultancy also says that smartphones with the highest degree of integration will be a promising product category in 2009, with such product expected to retain 30%-plus shipment growths.

New Business Model

Another important feature, according to TRi, that will help to further drive the development of cellphone market in 2009 is High Speed Downlink Packet Access (HSDPA). Such high-speed wireless data- transmission service has been gaining increasing popularity in some mature markets, as telecom carriers actively promote such value-added service by providing flat-rate incentives and bundled handheld devices such as Apple`s iPhone and HTC Diamond smartphones.

In the emerging business arena, TRi points out a potentially practical service to be offered by telecom carriers, who can tap into detailed subscriber data to offer personalized value-added services. One excellent example is LBS (location-based services) or a voice-activated Q&A service: a user merely asks routine questions as "where is the nearest diner" on-the-road to get convenient answers.

TRi also says that advancing 3.5G mobile service and software architectures have also been speeding the development of multimedia value-added services, with Microsoft, Apple, Google, Sony, Nokia, HTC, and Motorola all likely taking part.

Alongside the growing sophistication of the above-mentioned mobile phone functions are new challenges placed upon OE parts suppliers, who are required to develop components for lighter, thinner handsets, with newcomers boasting price, technology advantages expected to replace older, less-competitive players.

TRi suggests handset and parts makers in Taiwan focus on tapping the business potential of smartphones in 2009. The consultancy forecasts a shipment decrease of six million code division multiple access (CDMA) 2G and 2.5G handsets in 2009, as well as an increase of 48 million GSM/FPRS/EDGE models and 60 million 3G, 3.5G (WCDMA, CDMA 2000) models. Overall the research firm says cellphone shipment in 2009 is expected to grow 7.4%, or about 100 million units to reach 1.45 billion units.

Why The iPhone Has Stumbled In India

The original iPhone generated a lot of interest in India, selling well on the grey market, so it went to reason that when the 3G version launched officially in the world’s fastest growing wireless market, that it too would sell well. But apparently, that’s not what happened, with sales of the iPhone 3G falling far short of Apple’s own internal goals of moving 100,000 units by December 2009. Livemint.com reports that analysts tracking the Indian handset market estimate that half that number has been imported, with just a fraction—11,000 phones—sold so far. Given that every handset marker from the market leader Nokia (NYSE: NOK) to up and coming HTC have been anxious to capture the rapidly expanding Indian market, it seems odd that Apple (NSDQ: AAPL) hasn’t taken sales in the country more seriously.

So what hurt the iPhone 3G’s uptake in India? For one, pricing was always going to be part of it. At $800, the gadget was without a doubt, expensive, especially considering a typical IT worker’s annual salary ranges from $12,000-$24,000. But cost isn’t the entire reason. As Livemint points out, Nokia’s N96, Samsung’s Omnia and BlackBerry Bold all cost even more than the iPhone.

“Pricing communication” was a bigger reason. Indian consumers were well aware that the iPhone was selling in the US for $199, but Apple made no attempt to explain the sizable cost difference—that subsidizing handsets isn’t common practice in the Indian market as it is in the US. Even worse, the phone was locked to the carrier, despite consumers being charged full price. Apple also left too much to its operator partners—Bharti Airtel and Vodafone—which didn’t have the experience of aggressively selling handsets. They only sold the phones in their own stores, instead of branching out to the numerous retail phone outlets in India that sell 50 percent of all handsets. Marketing was another downfall. Again, it was left to Vodafone (NYSE: VOD) and Airtel, which didn’t push the phone that hard, and certainly didn’t position the iPhone as a “lifestyle” product, or make it seem “aspirational.” (Apparently, selling the iPhone as a lifestyle product could have compensated for the fact that India doesn’t yet have 3G networks, rendering the phone’s 3G capabilities useless).

Nokia, meanwhile, will be happy to learn that Apple’s strategy “was not to sell a million phones in India” and that “it only wanted to establish a presence in the country,” as Airtel’s CMO Sanjay Gupta told Livemint. Nokia dominates the Indian smartphone market, with research firm Gartner estimating they have an up to 70 percent share of it.

In a separate story, Reuters reports that India added a record 7.7 million mobile users in October to its GSM-based networks, according to the Cellular Operators’ Association of India (COAI). Total GSM mobile users at the end of October numbered 241.4 million, up 3.3 percent from 233.7 million in September. The number does not include India’s CDMA mobile users. At the end of September, number two network Reliance Communications, which is CDMA-based, had 56.1 million users.