IIPM

A
PROJECT REPORT
ON

THE INDIAN MOBILE PHONE

INDUSTRY
(WHY NOKIA MOBILE PHONES LOST ITS MARKET
SHARE IN INDIA?)
(SALES MANAGEMENT)

BY
AMIT BOHRA
(PGP-09/11/SS)

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

1
Nokia mobile phones or the nokia mobiles have been a milestone brand
as far as the brand recognition and other aspects in the telecom
industry matters. It has over the years managed to grow as a brand that
has recognition beyond any doubt. It was successful in creating its
image as first mobile phone for the new users. Be it any country
customer prefers buying nokia over any other brand. With such a good
brand image and brand recognition, in last two years the brand has
suffered market loss in the Indian market. Thought it rules the Indian
market of mobile phones because of its user friendly mobile phones
and easily available after sales service centre the company suffered a
loss. The reason behind it is because of the presence of local companies
like Micromax which from its market share of 0.7% jumped to 4.5% in
one single year which is considered as phenomenal success for the
company. This company is known for its latest technology phones at a
rate affordable by anyone and everyone.
Thus the study will help me to understand as to why a company as big
as NOkIA suffered a loss in last two years. What do the customers have
to say about it and what are the probable reasons that could help nokia
gain its market share and enjoy is market leadership without any loss.

Content

2
 TOPIC PAGE
NO.
Section -1
introduction
1) NOKIA 04
2) Micromax 19
3) Samsung 20
4) Karbonn 21
5) Sony ercisson 22
6) Report of IDC 23
Section –B

7) Research methodology 24
8) Data collection method 28
9) Tools and techniques 29
10) Questionnaire 31
11) Data analysis and interpretation 37
12) Problems with nokia phones 45
13) Recommendations 45
14) Conclusions 46
15) Bibliography 47

3
NOKIA:
HISTORY:

Nokia has played a pioneering role in the growth of cellular technology

in India, starting with the first-ever cellular call a decade ago, made on a
Nokia mobile phone over a Nokia- deployed network.
Nokia started its India operations in 1995, and presently operates out
of offices in New Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata, Bangalore, Hyderabad and
Ahmedabad. The Indian operations comprises of the company’s
handsets and network infrastructure businesses, R&D facilities in
Bangalore, Hyderabad and Mumbai and manufacturing plant in
Chennai. The handset business is supported by a team of professionals
across 3 business groups namely Mobile Phones,
Multimedia and Enterprise solutions.
The company has grown manifold over the years with its manpower
strength increasing from 450 people in the year 2004 to close to 6000
people in the year 2006. These include employees at Nokia India, Nokia
Siemens Network and the Chennai factory.
Mobile phones
Nokia has established itself as the market and brand leader in the
mobile devices market in India. The company has built a diverse
product portfolio to meet the needs of different consumer segments,
ranging from entry level phones for first time subscribers to advanced
business devices and high performance multimedia devices for imaging,
music and gaming. India is a very important country for Nokia and is
amongst the top three markets for it globally. Nokia has been working
closely with operators in India to increase geographical coverage and
lower the total cost of ownership for consumers. The company has also

4
launched seven Nokia ‘Concept stores’ in Bangalore, Delhi, Jaipur,
Hyderabad, Chandigarh, Ludhiana and Chennai to provide customers a
complete experiential mobile experience.
Some firsts for Nokia in India:
1995 – First mobile phone call made in India on a Nokia phone on a
Nokia network
1998 - Saare Jahaan Se Acchha, first Indian ringtone in a Nokia 5110
2000 - First phone with Hindi menu (Nokia 3210)
2002 - First Camera phone (Nokia 7650)
2003 - First Made for India phone, Nokia 1100
2004 - Saral Mobile Sandesh, Hindi SMS on a wide range of Nokia
phones
2004 - First Wi-fi Phone- Nokia Communicator (N9500)
2005 – Local UI in additional local language
2006 – Nokia manufacturing plant in Chennai

Infrastructure business
In the infrastructure business, Nokia Networks (now called Nokia
Siemens Network) has made significant progress in realizing business
opportunities and increasing its market share in India. Nokia Networks
is now a key supplier to all the top five GSM operators including Bharti,
BSNL, Hutchison, IDEA and BPL. Nokia has also set-up it’s Global
Networks Solutions Center in Chennai, India. The Solutions Center
performs network operation tasks for selected operator customers in
the Asia Pacific region as well as Europe, the Middle East and Africa.
R & D centers
5
Nokia has three Research & Development centers in India, based in
Hyderabad, Bangalore and Mumbai. These R&D hubs are staffed by
engineers who are working on next-generation packet-switched mobile
technologies and communications solutions to enhance corporate
productivity.
Manufacturing in India
Nokia has set up its 10 manufacturing facility in Chennai, India to meet
the burgeoning the demand for mobile devices in the country. The
manufacturing facility is operational with an investment of USD 150
million announced in March 2006 and currently employs over 3800
people.
Recent Achievements for Nokia India
• Nokia India ranks as the Most Respected Company in the Indian
Consumer Durables Sector in 2007 as per an annual survey conducted
by BusinessWorld, India's leading business magazine. Nokia India has
also held this position in 2004 and 2006.
• Ranked Asia’s most trusted brand in 2006 by the Media-Synovate
survey. The survey was aimed at gauging Asia’s top 1000 brands across
15 product and service categories
• Nokia India has been ranked as the overall No. 1 telecommunications
equipment vendor (including wireless infrastructure) in the country by
Voice & Data for three consecutive
years – 2006, 2005 and 2004. The Voice&Data Top 100 is an annual
industry survey of the top equipment vendors and operators in the
country
o No. 1 in NET with 36.5% (followed by Ericsson at 20.5%, Lucent at
12.5% and Nortel at 12%)

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o GSM handset market share – 72.5%
o CDMA handset market share – 7.3%

• Nokia was named the 'Brand of the Year' at the Confederation of

Indian Industry (CII) Brand Summit held in Chennai on 16 and 17th
February, 2005
• Nokia India won the Golden Peacock Award 2004 for the Nokia 1100,
which was selected as the most innovative product in the telecom
segment
Over 100 million mobile phones were sold in India in 2009 according to
a research firm IDC India. What’s surprising is that Nokia still has a
lion’s share of the mobile sales at 54.1% percent.Samsung Mobiles has
9.7 % share and LG has 6.4 %.
There were more than 28 new handset brands which started selling
handsets in 2009 and these new players account for over 12.3% of
handset sales which is quite significant.

The local players account for 17.5 % percent of sales now.These

include Micromax, Karbonn Mobiles, Spice Mobiles Ltd, Videocon
Industries Ltd and Lava International Ltd.

If you are following the IPL Cricket tournament , you must have seen
ads from these companies on Television.

According to this report , Nokia has lost close to 2% market share

during this period. Samsung has gained 0.2% and LG has lost 0.8 % in
terms of market share.
7
THE SUCCESS STORY OF NOKIA IN INDIA
By most accounts, India is among the world's fastest-growing markets
for mobile phones. The country has some 170 million subscribers and
adds 6 million to 7 million more each month. (China, in contrast, adds 5
million subscribers, and the U.S. 2 million subscribers a month.)
Recognizing this potential, several global telecom giants jumped into
the fray when the Indian government first opened up the country's
telecom market to private enterprise in 1994. Among them, one
company -- Finland-based Nokia -- forged ahead of rivals and today
commands a 58% market share for mobile phones (also called
"handsets"). In specific segments, such as GSM telephony, Nokia's
market share in India is as high as 70%. (GSM, which stands for Global
System for Mobile, is the world's most popular standard for mobile
communications.)

How did Nokia take the lead in the Indian mobile phone market, ahead
of companies such as Ericsson, Motorola, LG and Samsung? According
to company executives and industry experts, Nokia's strategy combined
focusing on the mobile phone market, establishing crucial distribution
partnerships, making early investments in manufacturing and brand-
building, and developing innovative product features -- such as mobile
phones that could double as flashlights. Ravi Bapna, professor of
information systems at the Indian School of Business in Hyderabad,
says, "As far as Nokia's India strategy is concerned, the numbers speak
for themselves. The company is a key cog in India's wireless value chain,
and it has used India as its emerging market lab."

The Power of Focus

8
D. Shivakumar, Nokia India's vice president and country manager,
believes that focus played a key role in the company's growth in India.
"If you look at the [mobile phone] landscape in 1995, anybody could
have succeeded if they had done the same things as Nokia did," he
says. "But all the other companies had something else to focus on,
some other business. Nokia was completely focused on mobile phones;
others had consumer electronics, home appliances, etc." Nokia's focus
was not just on handsets, of course. The mobile infrastructure business
-- then part of Nokia India -- was equally important. But, as of April 1,
2007, Nokia's joint venture with Siemens for mobile infrastructure has
become an independent entity. Thus, Nokia India has become even
more sharply focused.

Being ahead of the curve was another component of Nokia's strategy.

"We invested before everybody else -- in the brand, in people, in
distribution," says Shivakumar. Adds Pankaj Mahendroo, president of
the Indian Cellular Association: "Nokia invested in each vertical of the
handset ecosystem -- manufacturing, distribution and design R&D."

Nokia has invested more than $1 billion in India so far, and company
headquarters at Helsinki has repeatedly said that more funds will be
made available if required. The Indian company had revenues of more
than $3.5 billion in 2006, which means there is also money to be
reinvested. (The company does not disclose its profit numbers.)

The Distribution Edge

9
Investment in people is difficult to judge; every company claims to have
the best talent in the business. But when it comes to distribution,
Nokia's lead is clear. Today, India has some 95,000 outlets that sell
mobile phones. "In 50,000 of them -- and that's a conservative estimate
-- only one brand is available, Nokia," says Shivakumar.

Nokia started distributing its phones through a partnership with HCL

(formerly Hindustan Computers Ltd.), which had already built an
extensive network for its own products. Recently, Nokia has decided to
supplement that with its own distribution efforts. "Both companies
realized that there was a tremendous growth opportunity and it was
best that we utilized the resources of both organizations in an optimum
manner," says Nokia India director of sales Sunil Dutt. "We decided that
we would address some markets jointly, and that we would individually
address some of the other markets."

While Dutt does not spell out how the two partners will divide the
markets, some clues exist in the way demand is shaping up. In the cities
where the market is maturing, buyers are looking at more sophisticated
mobile phones, such as Nokia's E-series phones (which serve business
users) and the N-series (which have multimedia features). In rural India
-- which constitutes 70% of the population -- affordability is an issue. So
there is a different range for this constituency.

The price points sometimes dictate the type of outlet. "As the [telecom]
operator footprint expands into different markets, all kinds of retail
outlets get into selling mobile phones and airtime connections," says
Dutt. "People who have been selling consumer electronics, STD booth
owners and even cloth merchants get into this business." A stationery

10
store stocks mobiles in a corner; a mom-and-pop grocery store moves
beyond rice and lentils. "Then there are people with existing businesses
who decide to set up a separate shop only for mobile phones," he
continues. "And why do they feel the need to set up a different outlet?
In this business, customer engagement … requires a completely
different approach. Even the retail outlets realize this and [have
started] separating the two businesses."

Dutt notes that in the mature urban markets, "such as the metros and
Tier I towns where mobility has been around for a few years, customer
expectations are more evolved, and are continuously evolving. Our task
here is to provide our people with relevant competency and skills sets."
Nokia has begun to set up concept stores -- seven so far -- in Indian
cities. "At our concept stores, we have tried to bring to life all the
experiences that we offer at Nokia experiential zones across the world,"
he adds.

Investment in Manufacturing

The other big investment area that has set Nokia apart from other
telecom firms is manufacturing facilities and R&D. Nokia has several
R&D centers and labs in India. More importantly, it established a $150
million handset manufacturing facility in Chennai in 2005. The total
production at this unit has crossed 25 million handsets. "Some 30% of
our production is being exported to neighboring countries," says Sachin
Saxena, Nokia India director of operations in charge of the factory.

11
Other companies, such as Motorola, LG and Samsung, have also lined
up similar investments or are in the process of setting up manufacturing
units, but Nokia has had a clear head start. Also, the Chennai factory is
devoted to handsets, whereas other companies are planning to make a
whole range of consumer electronics products. "Domestic
manufacturing has worked to Nokia's advantage," says Ravinder Zutshi,
deputy managing director, Samsung India Electronics. "Samsung India is
looking at making its Chennai facility a global hub for its consumer
electronics products."

Industry analysts note that Nokia's strategy is potentially risky. When

the going is good -- as it is now -- the company can do well. But
Samsung's approach is more flexible, these analysts note. If demand for
mobile phones were to slump, Samsung could switch its manufacturing
lines to other products. In contrast, Nokia India's focus on mobile
phones mirrors the priorities of its parent company. Nokia traditionally
was in a whole range of businesses -- from toilet paper to power. But in
1993, CEO Jorma Ollila decided to sell off everything else and
concentrate on mobile telephony.

Building the Brand

Another crucial aspect of Nokia's investment strategy focused on

building its brand. Here, the company ran into a problem. The Nokia
range available in India extends from Rs 1,499 ($37) at the lower end to
Rs 45,000 ($1,125) at the high end. Marketing theory says a brand
cannot be all things to all people. This is the reason that Hindustan
Unilever, with quality built around its brand, refused to match Nirma,
which came out with a cheap detergent. This is also why Eveready, the

12
battery manufacturer, refused to lower prices when faced with a
Chinese challenger in the dry cell market.

But Nokia has a problem promoting other brands under its corporate
umbrella. "Unlike the FMCG (fast-moving consumer goods) market --
where the product lifecycle is at least 10 and sometimes 50-100 years --
models have a lifespan of 15-24 months here," says Devinder Kishore,
Nokia India's director of marketing. With such a lifecycle, promoting
various models would mean watching money go down the drain in a
couple of years.

Instead, Nokia is promoting platforms -- music, for instance. With this

approach, one model can replace another while the branding remains
the same, or is extended slightly with the E series and N series. "Nokia
has done well to focus on the 'mother' brand rather than on 'another'
brand," says Jagdeep Kapoor, chairman and managing director of
Samsika Marketing Consultants. Kapoor, who has written several books
on brand management, says that Nokia has understood the Indian
market by straddling all segments: the high, the middle and the low
end. "The company has created a ladder for consumers to climb from
the low end to the middle end to the high end, while being fully assured
that they will be with the mother brand Nokia."

Kapoor views the Nokia brand in terms of his proprietary "REAPS"

model, which takes into account five needs -- rational, emotional,
aspirational, physical and spiritual -- of the Indian consumer. "Nokia as
a brand has been able to address all the five needs to various degrees
at various stages," he says. "The rational need of quality versus price
has been met across price segments with options. The emotional need

13
of being able to keep in touch with near and dear ones during times of
joy and sorrow is being adequately fulfilled. The aspirational need with
the new models and features and the look-good approach has helped
the brand become a sought-after, must-have brand. The physical need
has been taken care of through size and comfort. And, finally, the
spiritual need has been met through (local) languages and people
--whether they are 18 or 80 -- being able to greet one another via SMS
[text messages] during religious festivals."

ISB's Bapna offers a prescription for Nokia. "Going forward with the
premise that the mobile infrastructure will serve as India's information
infrastructure -- given the lack of substitute physical and digital
infrastructure -- I would encourage Nokia to take a more active role in
nurturing content and application-creation communities that bring a
range of services to all layers of the population," he says. "It's in
[Nokia's] own interest to do so."

Products for India

The Nokia story in India has not been about grafting a model that has
worked abroad. In fact some of its models -- the handsets, not the
strategies -- are unique to India. Consider this example: It would
probably be inconceivable to mobile phone users in the U.S. or Europe
that their mobile phones should incorporate a flashlight, or torch. But
in India -- where large numbers of the rural population do not have
electricity, and power cuts are commonplace even in the cities -- having
a torch built into a mobile phone is a distinct and tangible benefit. The
Nokia 1100, the first made-for-India phone, has been a runaway
success. Manufactured at Chennai, it is also being exported. The 1100

14
incorporates a torch, an alarm clock and a radio. "Innovation is
something which consumers reward in this market," says Shivakumar.

Similar plans are in the works at Nokia's three India R&D labs, which
employ 700 people. For obvious reasons, most of the activity is under
wraps. Nokia is, however, willing to talk about the "shared" phone. This
is, again, something that mobile phone users in affluent countries might
find puzzling, but the concept is simple. For reasons of affordability, in
rural areas a phone may be shared by several people. The models being
launched to cater to this need will have separate address books,
individual billings and more. Will it work? People initially doubted the
torch phone, too, but it became a popular product.

Shivakumar offers some reasons to explain why he thinks the Indian

market is different and needs out-of-the-box thinking. "Fundamental
consumer differences exist between India and other countries," he
says. "A cell phone is a huge style icon for the Indian masses: 62% of
Indians buy a cell phone because of its looks. That is something that is
not true anywhere else in the world. It's as huge a style statement as
your watch, pen, cufflinks or bag. Hence, the brand matters quite a lot.

"Second, it is a safety product for women in small towns, because with

a cell phone you are in touch all the time; you're accessible. Next, it is a
huge productivity vehicle. When somebody calls you, you do not need
to take your bike out; you don't need to take your car out. You make a
phone call and it's over.

15
"It is also a driver of a lot of economic activity. If you go down the roads
of Gurgaon and Delhi, you will find that lots of people have written
their [mobile] phone numbers on the walls -- a plumber, an artisan, a
carpenter, a tailor. I think the whole service sector has gotten a huge
lift, thanks to this. This has killed the visiting card business…. It is also
the ultimate entertainment device. You have music on it now, in terms
of radio and stored music. The day is not far when you will see movie
clips and TV. One of our products has that, so that's TV on the go."

An Expanding Market

The Indian market for mobile phones, in addition to its base of 170
million subscribers, is also one of the most cost-effective in the world.
Call rates in India are among the lowest anywhere -- making a mobile
phone call costs two cents in India, compared with about four cents in
China. The market also has tremendous growth potential. So far, most
of the growth has been penetration-led, which means placing devices in
consumers' hands. The bulk of the growth going forward will be
replacement-led, where consumers come back for more. In India,
consumers tend to change their phones faster than in most other
places. And whenever they change their phone, 60% are willing to pay a
higher price.

Shivakumar offers examples of future services that might be delivered

over cell phones. "The cell phone could be the future bank -- a full
branch of the bank. You don't need 20 people, a security guard or a
vault. This is a passbook plus bank rolled into one. It can be your
payment system." Another possible use is navigation, where cell
phones could be used to provide maps of an area where the user is

16
based. Such services, whenever they are launched, could help Nokia
keep going and growing in India.

MARKET(NET SALES 2010)

10 major markets, net sales

2009 2008
 
EURm EURm
China 5 990 5 916
India 2 809 3 719
UK 1 916 2 382
Germany 1 733 2 294
USA 1 731 1 907
Russia 1 528 2 083
Indonesia 1 458 2 046
Spain 1 408 1 497
Brazil 1 333 1 902
Italy 1 252 1 774

17
MICROMAX:
Micromax had made a humble beginning by introducing Micromax
mobiles in the year 1991 in India. With this beginning, it has already
made a mark today as the leading provider of wireless telephony
solutions in the country. Micromax has concentrated on exhausitive
R&D and led by a futuristic vision, the company has revolutionised the
telecom sector in India by having generated innovative technologies.

With the introduction of Micromax mobiles in India, the company leads

the way in creating life-enhancing mobile phone solutions and wireless
technology that caters to the increasingly sophisticated needs of mobile
users globally. The company uses the latest and cutting edge
technology in India to bring pioneering and landmark solutions to the
users in the mobile world. Micromax mobiles are amongst the most
preferable mobile phones in the Indian market presently.

The company has nearly two decades of expertise and continuous

research in India and strives to remain as the vanguard of technological
advancement in the country in the quickest way possible. Micromax
mobile phones remain at the top spot today in India giving other
international brands surely a tough time.

18
SAMSUNG:
In India, Samsung mobiles is managed by SAMSUNG
Telecommunications India (STI), a design and technology leader in the
mobile market. In Sync with its thrust on introducing innovative,
consumer oriented, breakthrough technology products, Samsung
announced its new brand positioning for Samsung mobiles, which is
reflected in its new, spunky, tagline - 'Next is What ?'. It is being used in
all of 'Samsung Mobiles' communication material.

Samsung is the largest conglomerate in South Korea and a large

multinational corporation, making it one of the leading companies in
the world. Headquartered in Suwon, South Korea, it currently has
operations in over 100 countries. The name Samsung in fact means
'three stars' in Korean.

Samsung's business is actually composed of three different

conglomerates united under one Samsung Group. Samsung Electronics
is part of the business conglomerate. Samsung Electronics is also the
world's largest electronics company. Samsung mobiles is a part of
Samsung Electronics whose main areas of concern are Digital media,
semiconductors, telecommunications, and digital LCD appliances. It is
also a world leader in the field of liquid crystal displays. In 2007, the
company surpassed $100 million in sales, which was a sizable first time
achievement in the company's history.

19
KARBON
The latest buzz in town - Karbonn mobiles is the fruition of two Indian
telecom majors - UTL and Jaina. These together present to you Karbonn
mobiles - the ultimate mobile communications device available to the
discerning user today. Karbon Mobiles has on its portfolio some of the
leading designs and technologically advanced phones that match up to
international standards.

To tell you more about the people behind Karbon mobiles, UTL is a
multi-division telecom group, which has an annual turnover of Rs 1600
crore and over 2000 employees. Headquartered in Bangalore, it is a
leading Indian telecom powerhouse. Besides Karbonn mobiles, the
interests of this group span over many industries such as
manufacturing, services and distribution. It has a varied list of
credentials such as being leading suppliers of landline telephones and
exchanges in the country, leading supplier of telecom equipment to
cellular operators and business relations with reputed international as
well as national telecom brands in the country.

The second group behind Karbon mobiles - Jaina is a reputed

distribution house that has interests in telecom along with consumer
durables. This company is headquartered in Delhi and has the
distinction of operating along with prominent brands such as Nokia,
Samsung, Siemens, Panasonic, and Philips. It is the national distribution
partner of Microsoft along with HTC along with Motorola. Together,
they have come out with the brilliant and snazzy Karbonn mobile
phones.

20
Karbonn mobile phones feature the latest trends in mobile telephony
and that too at unbelievable prices. Karbon mobiles offer the best value
for the money they charge as they are bundled with the latest
technology and the great user friendly features.

SONY ERICSSON:
Sony (esp Sony Ericsson mobiles) is one of the most recognised and
leading bands in the world today. It established its India operations in
1994 and heads its national operations from New Delhi. Since its
inception, it has experienced phenomenal growth and increasing
reputation across the country. Sony Ericsson mobiles is a joint venture
established in 2001 by the Japanese consumer electronics company
Sony Corporation and the Swedish telecommunications company
Ericsson to make mobile phones.

Sony Ericsson mobiles enable you to have the same communication and
computing power that you have in the office when you're on the move.
Sony Ericsson mobiles can access the Internet, intranet, email and
corporate network wherever you are in the world. Sony Ericsson's
range of mobiles and accessories are a class apart from others. It's easy
to choose a design that fits into one's budget and lifestyle needs, for
the mobiles are desinged with the wide range of customers and usage
in mind.

REPORT OF IDC IN BRIEF

21
IDC India has published a report on growth of mobile sales in India (for
2009) and here are some of the relevant data points to track:

The growth has more or less flat [owing to low sales figure in Q1] – in
total, 101.54 million units of sales were registered.
Local manufacturers* have grabbed 17.5% market share [from 0.9%, a
year back]
Only 5 local manufacturers in 2008 and the number stands at 28 now!
Nokia market share in India fell from 56.2% share in 2008 to 54.1% in
2009.
Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd’s share rose marginally to 9.7% from 9.5%.
LG’s share dropped from 7.2% to 6.4%,
Of the local manufacturers, Micromax leads the race and holds a
market share stands of 4.8%.
Like any market research, take this with a pinch of salt [for instance,
Nokia has expressed reservations about the research, since IDC didn’t
take into account its production facility in Chennai, which ships 50% of
the manufactured mobile to India].

Nevertheless, this is an interesting result and rise of local companies

shows that there is a value in local IP [eat this: Micromax Q5 phone is
just like Blackberry/E71/72 with a far lesser price which Blackberrys of
the world cannot even match].

SECTION – B

22
(1) Research Methodology

 Relevance of study.
 Title of study.
 Objectives of study.
 Statement of problem.
 Sampling design.
 Data collection.
 Period of study.
 Tools and technique.
 Limitation of study.

23
Relevance of the study
Nokia has been the front runner since the mobile phones were
introduced in the Indian continent. After so many years of the
introduction of the mobile phones in the Indian market there
are many other players who has their presence in the mobile
market and thus it has impacted largely over the market share
of the nokia mobile phones in the country. Thus this study will
help us to understand the various reasons of the nokia loosing
its market share and also the rise of other players in the
market.

Objectives of the study:

 To understand the market structure of the mobile phones in the
country.
 To understand the reasons as to why nokia had less sales in the
market.
 To understand as to how the other players ie local players
gained their market share and impacted the market of other big
mobile brands hugely.

24
Statement of the problem:
Why nokia mobile phones market share decreased immensely and
how the other players like micromax mobile phones played a huge
role in it? What steps should be taken by nokia mobile phones to gain
its lost share in market?

Sampling design:
POPULATION:
The population comprises of various segments of the population. So
we decided to divide the population and make six major age groups
for consumer survey. As the survey was to be done for the mobile
phones we decided to select more of young college going people of
the society as they can provide the best opinions for the same. The
age groups consisted of the following age :
 0 – 15
 16 – 20
 21 – 30
 31 – 40
 41 – 50
 Above 51.

For dealers the population consist of different types of outlets

like electronic stores and company’s retailers and dealers.

SAMPLE FRAME:-

25
For consumers and the dealers the data has been collected from the
Ahmedabad city.
SAMPLE TECHNIQUE:-
The convenience sampling method has been used to collect the data.
This method has been selected to cover the most accessible
population members.
SAMPLE SIZE:-
The sample size consists of 50 consumers and 5 retailers.

26
Data collection method:
Area wise the data collection has been taken care off. The data
collection has been done through primary sources as well as the
secondary sources. It has been ensured that the same is authenticate
as well as reliable.
PRIMARY DATA SOURCES:
The collection of primary data is comparatively more important for
this study. This aspect has been taken care of. The primary data has
been collected from the existing as well as the potential users of the
mobile phones.
The primary data has been collected through structured
questionnaires and personal interview.

SECONDARY DATA SOURCES:

Secondary data has been collected from INTERNET, MAGAZINES
NEWSPAPERS AND PERIODICALS.

27
 Tools and technique:
RESEARCH INSTRUMENT:
The research instrument is the main tool by which the researcher can
do research on specific problem or objective. The research instrument
for collecting primary data is questionnaire which was structured so
as to get objective oriented information. The questionnaire consisted
of three types of questions viz.,
 Open ended questions
 Dichotomous questions
 Multiple choice questions.

Due to its flexibility it is most common tool used to collect primary

data.
MODE OF SEQUENCE:
The respondents will be chosen randomly and the questions will be
asked in the prescribed sequence.
DATA PROCESSING:
A number of tables to be prepared to bring out the main
characteristics of the collected data and then it will be presented
graphically.
ANALYSIS OF COLLECTED DATA:
The following steps are involved in analyzing the collected data:
 Tabulation and editing.
 Interpretation
 Recommendation.

28
For my project study, I will involve the above given steps thus making
it more descriptive and easily understandable.

29
 QUESTIONNAIRES
CONSUMERS:
Respected ma’am/sir, we are the students of IIPM and we are conducting a research as a part
of our project which will help us to study the topic of our study ie SALES AND DISTRIBUTION OF
MOBILE PHONES IN INDIA in a better way. All the information provided by you here is strictly
for the study purpose ONLY and will not be used for any other purpose.

NAME : ______________________________________________________

AGE : () 10-15yrs () 15-25yrs ()26-30yrs ()31-40yrs () >40yrs.

INCOME (PA) : () 0-2L () 2-4L () 4-6L () 6-8L () 8-10L () >10L.

OCCUPATION: () student () business () govt employee () house wife () retired

GENDER : () male () female

______________________________________________________________________________

Q1) FOR HOW LONG YOU HAVE BEEN USING CELL(MOBILE) PHONES? (tick the appropriate)

[] 1-2yrs [] 2-3yrs [] 3-5yrs [] >5yrs.

Q2) HOW MANY CELL PHONES YOUR ARE USING CURRENTLY?(tick the appropriate)

[] 1 []2 []3 []>3

Q3) WHAT MODEL CELL PHONE YOU ARE CURRENTLY USING?(tick the appropriate)

[] NOKIA [] MICROMAX [] SONY ERICSSON [] SAMSUNG

[] LAVA [] OTHERS (please specfy)___________________________

Q4) WHICH WAS THE FIRST MOBILE THAT YOU USED?(please specify the name and also the
model no. if possible)

________________________________________________________________

Q5) MENTION THE SPECIFIC REASON FOR BUYING THE ABOVE MENTIONED MOBILE PHONE?
(tick the appropriate)

[] USER FRIENDLY.

[] COST EFFECTIVE.

30
 [] MUSIC

[] GAMES.

[] BUSINESS PURPOSE.

[] OTHER (please specify) ___________________________________________

Q6) ON THE SCALE OF 1 TO 5 PLEASE RANK THE BRANDS ACCORDING TO YOUR PREFERENCES.
(1 being the best and 5 being the poosest)

BRAND RANK

[] NOKIA {__}

[] MICROMAX {__}

[] SAMSUNG {__}

[] SONY ERICSSON {__}

[] LAVA {__}

Q7) WHAT DO YOU LOOK INTO BEFORE BUYING A NEW MOBILE PHONE?(tick the apporpirate)

[]BRAND NAME

[] PRICE.

[] STYLE.

[] AFTER SALES SERVICE

[] FACLITIES AVAILABLE IN THE PHONE

[] OTHERS (please specify) ________________________________

Q8) IF GIVEN A CHANCE TO CHANGE A MOBILE PHONE WILL YOU CHANGE YOUR CURRENT
MOBLE PHONE?(tick the appropriate)

[] YES [] NO.

Q9) IF YES OR NO PLEASE MENTION THE REASON…

_______________________________________________________________

_______________________________________________________________

Q10) WHICH DEALER OR EXCLUSIVE SHOWROOM DO YOU PREFER FOR THE BUYING OF CELL
PHONE?(tick the appropriate)

31
 [] CROMA [] VIJAY SALES [] BRAND OUTLET

[] ANY RANDOM MOBILE PHONE STORE.

[] OTHERS (please specify)_________________________________________

Q11) DOES THE DEALER COMES FIRST OR THE BRAND IN YOUR DECISION OF BUYING A MOBILE
PHONE? (tick the appropriate)

[] DEALER.

[] BRAND.

[] BOTH.

[] OTHERS(please specify)______________________

Q12) WHY DO YOU VISIT YOUR PREFERRED STORE?(tick the appropriate)

[] AMBEINCE

[] OFFERS

[] AVAILABILITY OF VARITIES OF MODEL

[] LOCATION OF THE STORE.

[] OTHERS (please specify)_____________________________________.

Q13) ANY SUGGESTIONS FOR ANY PARTICULAR BRAND OF MOBILE PHONES?

_____________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________

WE ARE HIGHLY OBLIGED FOR PATIENCE AND TIME THAT YOU SHARED WITH US IN ORDER TO
FILL UP THIS QUESTIONNARE.

THANK YOU.

32
DEALERS:
Respected ma’am/sir, we are the students of IIPM and we are conducting a research as a part
of our project which will help us to study the topic of our study ie SALES AND DISTRIBUTION OF
MOBILE PHONES IN INDIA in a better way. All the information provided by you here is strictly
for the study purpose ONLY and will not be used for any other purpose.

NAME : ______________________________________________________

AGE : () 20-30yrs () ()20-35yrs ()35-45yrs () >45yrs.

INCOME (PA) : () 0-2L () 2-4L () 4-6L () 6-8L () 8-10L () >10L.

TYPE OF BUSINESS: () OWN () FRANCHISEE () PARTNERSHIP () DEALERS

GENDER : () male () female

Q1) FOR HOW LONG HAVE YOU BEEN IN THIS BUSINESS? (tick the appropriate)

[] 0-2YRS

[] 2-4 YRS

[] 4-6 YRS

[] 6-8 YRS

[] >8 YRS

Q2) WHAT CATEGORIES OF PRODUCTS YOU SELL IN YOUR STORE? (tick the appropriate)

[] HOME APPLIANCES.

[] TELEVISION SETS

[] MUSIC SYSTEM

[] MOBILE PHONES

[] LAPTOPS.

[] ALL OF THE ABOVE

[] OTHERS(please specify)_________________________________________

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Q3) WHAT ARE THE BRANDS THAT YOU HAVE INTO YOUR STORE?(please tick the appropriate)

[] Samsung.

[] LG

[] sony.

[] nokia

[] all of the above.

[] OTHERS (please specify)_____________________________________________

Q4) WHICH BRANDS OF MOBILE PHONES DO YOU KEEP FOR SALE IN YOUR STORE?(tick the
appropriate)

[] NOKIA

[] SAMSUNG

[] LG

[] MICROMAX

[] SONY ERICSSON.

[] ALL OF THE ABOVE.

Q5) RANK THE BRANDS IN TERMS OF MOST PROFITABLE BRAND IN THE MOBILE PHONE
SEGMENT (1 being the best and 5 being the poorest)

BRAND RANKS

[] NOKIA {__}

[] SAMSUNG {__}

[] SONY ERICSSON {__}

[] MICROMAX {__}

[] LG {__}

Q6) RANK THE BRANDS IN TERMS OF MAXIMUM SALES YEARLY IN THE MOBILE PHONE
SEGMENT (1 being the best and 5 being the poorest)

BRAND RANKS

[] NOKIA {__}

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 [] SAMSUNG {__}

[] LG {__}

[] SONY ERICSSON {__}

[] MICROMAX {__}

Q7) ON WHAT BASIS YOU INTRODUCE THE NEW BRAND IN YOUR STORE? (tick the appropriate)

[] price flexibility

[] the availaibility of models

[] profit margin

[] sales history of the brand

[] others (please specify)_____________________________

Q8) HOW OFTEN DO YOU GIVE DISCOUNTS AND OFFERS ON MOBILE PHONES?

________________________________________________________________

Q9) WHICH INTERNATIONAL BRAND YOU WILL PREFER TO SELL IF YOU GET A CHANCE?

__________________________________________________________________

Q10) BEFORE BUYING ANY MOBILE PHONES WHAT DOES THE CUSTOMER MORE OFTEN LOOKS
INTO OR ENQUIRES ABOUT?

___________________________________________________________________

Q11) ANY ADVICE YOU WOULD YOU LIKE TO GIVE TO THE MOBILE PHONE BRANDS?

____________________________________________________________________

THANK YOU

35
DATA INTERPRETATION AND ANALYSIS:

FOR HOW LONG YOU HAVE BEEN USING CELL(MOBILE)

PHONES?
8
12
1-2yrs
2-3yrs
3-5yrs
>5yrs

17
13

Here as we see the duration of the mobile usage has been asked which shows
that almost 17 people the largest of the chunk has been using mobile phones for
atleast 3-4years. Than there are people who are using mobile phones which
ranges from 1-4 years.

36
 HOW MANY CELL PHONES YOUR ARE USING
CURRENTLY?
5

1
2
3
>3
17
28

Normaly we see that there are many people who uses more than one mobile
phones. And looking at the current market of the mobile phone industry such
people are increasing day by day. Here the survery reveals that there are almost
70%people who are just using one mobile phones than followed by people who
uses 2 mobile phones and than those very less in number who has 3 mobile
phones.

37
 WHAT MODEL CELL PHONE YOU ARE CURRENTLY
USING?(
8
NOKIA
MICROMAX
2 SONY ERC
SAMSUNG
LAVA
25 BLACKBERRY
8

As we can see here nokia mobile phones share a large market here almost 50%.
Than comes the local player micromax which has also a great impact on the
market and due to that almost other big brand like sony ericsson and others have
lost their markets.

MENTION THE SPECIFIC REASON FOR BUYING THE

ABOVE MENTIONED MOBILE PHONE?(

USER FRIENDLY
COST EFFECTIVE
MUSIC
GAMES
BUSINESS PURPOSE
OTHER

38
Here various factors were pointed by the customers as to why they chose the
mobile phones they are currently using or will want to buy the mobile phones in
future.

ON THE SCALE OF 1 TO 5 PLEASE RANK THE BRANDS

ACCORDING TO YOUR PREFERENCES.

2 Nokia
5 SE
Samsung
Micromax
Lava

Nokia is the brand that people have recognized as their first buy phone and thus
customers prefer nokia more than any other brand. But as we can see the local
brand micromax has also risen in the preference list.

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 WHAT DO YOU LOOK INTO BEFORE BUYING A NEW
MOBILE PHONE?

11 Brand Name
16 Price
Style
After Sales Service
Facilities
Others

17 6

This question answered many things for the survey stating the various factors
people look into b4 buying ranging from brand name to style to prices to various
facilities available in a brand.

IF GIVEN A CHANCE TO CHANGE A MOBILE PHONE WILL

YOU CHANGE YOUR CURRENT MOBLE PHONE?

10
Yes
No

40

40
Almost 80% people agreed that they want to change their mobile phones with
various things as reasons. When asked their obvious choice was nokia phones and
than it was micromax phones which is a local brand.

WHICH DEALER OR EXCLUSIVE SHOWROOM DO YOU

PREFER FOR THE BUYING OF CELL PHONE?

7
Croma
Vijay Sales
Brand Outlet
10 Others
27

27 out of 50 customers replied croma as their favourite store to buy the mobile
phones with reason being pretty obvious that croma offers many options at any
given time and at a competitive rate as compared to the other stores and
sometimes even the brand stores.

41
DOES THE DEALER COMES FIRST OR THE BRAND IN YOUR
DECISION OF BUYING A MOBILE PHONE?

7
Dealer
Brand

43

Almost 90% people said that they look after the brand before buying cell phones.
The rest sometimes unknown of the new brands and model available look into
the dealers and the options they have to offer to the customers.

WHY DO YOU VISIT YOUR PREFERRED STORE?(

Ambience
Offers
Choices
Location
Others

42
As we can see here the customers mostly look after the choices that a store has
along with the offers the brand or the store has to offer. Location plays little but
an important role in the choice of the store.

After analyzing the above mentioned questions we found out many things which
will help us in drawing recommendation, suggestions and thud the conclusion.

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PROBLEM WITH THE NOKIA MOBILE PHONES
Nokia is a brand that has impacted the mobile market hugely. It developed its
image as a my first phone amongst the many buyers. But recently the mobile
phones lost its few market share from the market owing it to the presence of
other mobile brands in the market.
The problem that were detected through this survery is
1) High priced models
2) Presence of local brands offering latest mobile phones at lower price.
3) No new mobile brands with good technology.

RECOMMENDATIONS:
After the survey and the research on the sales data of the mobile phone it is
found out that nokia mobile phones lost its few percent of market share because
of the factors as discussed above.
So the suggestion will be that nokia should first all try and reduce the price of its
mobile phones which will help customers in buying those models
Secondly the company should try and give more and more facilities in the mobile
phone for example dual sim technology and many more for a price that is
affordable by common man.
And last but not the least nokia should provide more and more options for the
customers to choose from as that gives customers various choices that will help
them to choose mobile phones of their choice at an affordable rates.

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CONCLUSION:
Nokia is undoubtedly the market leader in the mobile
phone segment of the Indian subcontinent. Last year it
suffered loss of few percent of market share but that was
because of the certain factors that made the company
loose the market share.
But now the company with new launches and new
technology has geared up to gain the market share in the
Indian subcontinent. India being a price sensitive market
the company should give options to the customers and
also the price options that will help the company to grow
its market share. Mobile phones with good facilities and
a price affordable by the common customer is the main
strategy of the mobile phone companies.

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Bibliography:
1) www.google.com
2) www.nokia.com
3) www.wikipedia.com
4) www.micromax.com
5) www.phones.com

Thank you

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