The Hindu : National : Sales may touch 34 million

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Friday, Jul 22, 2005

National

National

Sales may touch 34 million

Anand Parthasarathy

BANGALORE: Today's numbers may look different, but in five years from now, more mobile phones will be sold in India than in China, predicts technology watcher, Gartner. By 2009 global sales will cross the one billion-a-year mark and of these, one in three will be sold in the Asia Pacific region. India will account for 139 million to China's 61 million, making this country, the most mobile-mahaan nation in the world.

In a study of mobile trends in 62 countries, released on Thursday, the frenetic pace of the telecom revolution in India was the single-most interesting finding — and it has been picked up worldwide today by the technical media as some sort of ``tortoise and hare'' story.

That is because according to Gartner's own numbers, mobile sales in India this year, are expected to reach 34 million, way below China's 68 million. But principal analyst Carolina Milanesi was quick to add that ``this is not a case of one doing better than the other. The market is at different stages.'' China's mobile bazaar has been growing for some time and may top out soon, while India is just getting up to heat.

The growth here will be fuelled by cheaper sets that will lower the price point to mass affordability.

Interestingly the mobile phone has emerged in this century, as what Gartner analyst Ben Wood calls ``the most prolific consumer device on the planet,'' the 779 million selling in 2005, worldwide, outstripping 200 million Personal Computers (PCs) and 200 million television sets.

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