Indian mobile phone market - Defying brand logic?
The mobile phone market is one of the already matured or fast maturing industries in many of the developed Western economies. But Asia is a different ball game altogether. India alone for example, brings in almost 6 million new mobile phone subscribers every month. It is estimated that by 2010, the total number of mobile phone users is expected to touch the 450 million, more than the entire population of the United States.
Given these highly lucrative market conditions, it is no wonder all the global mobile phone manufacturers are lining up to make it big in the Indian market. Already Nokia, Motorola, Samsung and LG - the world's four largest mobile phone companies - have set up their manufacturing plants in India.
But recently, they demonstrated their seriousness about their India plans by launching new lines of mobile phones. Motorola started this chain of events when the brand launched a US$32 mobile phone in November 2006. This had the entire market buzz with excitement. On the 2nd of May 2007, Reliance Communications, a part of the Reliance conglomerate, launched its own line of mobile phones with color screens in the range of US$19 to US$22. This was followed by Nokia's launch of an entire line of phones starting from US$40. This is new for the Indian market. Even though this is an exciting time for the customer, it will also be interesting to know the impact of the brand involved.
It has always been argued that getting involved in a price war or playing the price game is not very healthy for an established brand. But in the Indian market, this rule does not seem to apply. All these companies had two choices - either to occupy their ivory towers, refuse to listen to the customer needs and lose out on the emerging 450 million strong markets or play the price game. As for now, these brands seem to have chosen the later route. It will indeed be interesting to watch as this episode progresses and watch for the effects on the brand equity.
Given these highly lucrative market conditions, it is no wonder all the global mobile phone manufacturers are lining up to make it big in the Indian market. Already Nokia, Motorola, Samsung and LG - the world's four largest mobile phone companies - have set up their manufacturing plants in India.
But recently, they demonstrated their seriousness about their India plans by launching new lines of mobile phones. Motorola started this chain of events when the brand launched a US$32 mobile phone in November 2006. This had the entire market buzz with excitement. On the 2nd of May 2007, Reliance Communications, a part of the Reliance conglomerate, launched its own line of mobile phones with color screens in the range of US$19 to US$22. This was followed by Nokia's launch of an entire line of phones starting from US$40. This is new for the Indian market. Even though this is an exciting time for the customer, it will also be interesting to know the impact of the brand involved.
It has always been argued that getting involved in a price war or playing the price game is not very healthy for an established brand. But in the Indian market, this rule does not seem to apply. All these companies had two choices - either to occupy their ivory towers, refuse to listen to the customer needs and lose out on the emerging 450 million strong markets or play the price game. As for now, these brands seem to have chosen the later route. It will indeed be interesting to watch as this episode progresses and watch for the effects on the brand equity.
