The phenomenal rise of the mobile phone has seen its image change from a yuppie status symbol to a daily essential. With hordes of companies entering into mobile business, consumers are benefited with numerous choices to make at varying price range. [break]
The latest buzz in the market is the Indian mobile phones. Not just the consumers, mobile phone vendors are also doing brisk business with the low-end Indian mobile phones that come with features like dual SIM, powerful speakers, good battery life and also advanced features like WiFi, touchscreen and 3G facilities.
The low end Indian mobile sets are being befriended by middle class and lower middle class customers as they are priced relatively lower than other celebrated brands and at the same time hands on all the modern and latest technologies in the mobile sets.
“Indian mobile sets are giving a tough competition to products from other established brands by reaching up to a larger mass of people who fall under middle class and lower middle class population,” said Jagat Saud of Mobile Life Style Store at Tamrakar Complex, Khichapokhari, told myrepublica.com.
People who do not have much money to invest on gadgets are the major buyers of Indian mobile sets as they are priced from as low as Rs 1,800 to as high as Rs 20,000 and are embedded with all the latest technologies in the mobile market.
“There are a large number of people who wish to associated themselves with the modern technological know-how but are bound to compromise due to financial constrains. The growing market of Indian mobile sets is turning out to be the great respite for such buyers,” Saud added.
According to traders, Indian sets that come up with dual SIM facilities are the ones that are getting popular amongst people outside the capital. The market for dual SIM Indian mobile phones is also driven by users who want to switch between carriers to take advantage of the best deals.
“Until some a few years ago, this group used to go for Chinese mobile sets. However, the entry of impressive range of Indian sets with attractive features and warranty is making them more popular in Nepali market,” said Prakash Shrestha of Central Mobile Store at the Tamrakar Complex.
“Unlike the cheaper Chinese sets, Indian sets can be repaired if any problem comes along. This is making them even popular.”
Colors, Karbonn, Spice, Micromax, Intex, G´Five are some of the popular Indian mobile phones brands available in the Nepali market.
“Micromax Q5, Q3, C2i mobiles are the largest selling Indian mobile sets here. Intex 2010, Intex 6633 and Spice D88 Gold are other popular mobile sets among customers,” Shrestha said.
Though Indian sets are able to pull larger number of customers into growing mobile technology, sets from celebrated brands like Nokia, Samsung and LG among others still rule the roost as there is a great difference in the software used by these branded sets.
It is the kind of software used in the sets that determine the prices, Saud added.
Intex 2010
Rs 2,700
Intex 6633
Rs 8,000
Micromax Q55
Rs 8,000
Micromax Q3
Rs 6,599
Spice D88 Gold
Rs 11,000
Karbonn K25
Rs 7,420
G´Five G500i
Rs 11,175
Colors CG 101
Rs 7,000
Related story
Understanding Stock Market
