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The year ahead promises big achievements for India. According to the UK based business intelligence provider, Informa Telecoms and Media, India is set to overtake China as the country with the world's largest handset sales market.

ITM, in its Industry Outlook for 2010 said post one of the worst downturns in 2009, the telecom markets will grow, albeit at a slower pace in 2010.

The analysts say that the year 2010 will also force a rethink of the term 'emerging markets' as mobile phone penetration in many such markets, including India would match the figures of developed economies.

In 2009, deteriorating economic conditions caused by the global downturn, falling consumer index led to end-users keeping their devices for six to nine months longer than in the past, thus elongating the replacement cycle. The mobile operators reducing subscription acquisition costs were cited as the prime reason for a lackluster performance of the telecom sector in 2009.

ITM said the impact of fall in the device markets will be more pronounced in the developed markets. This is because sales generated from replacement markets in these countries are a much larger proportion of total sales than in developing markets.

India definitely is seeing sunshine on the handsets and devices front. According to VOICE&DATA the mobile handsets market in India grew about 8% in FY 2009.

The Indian handset market is the new battleground with about thirty handset players battling it out in the estimated Rs 20,000 crore cellphone market. A number of new handset makers like Micromax, Fly Mobile, Universal, Movil Mobile, Karbonn Mobile, etc, have joined the fray, especially in the lower and mid market segments. However, this crowded segment is dominated by few international brands like Nokia, Samsung, LG, Sony Ericsson, and RIM.

South Korean Company, LG sold about 2.4 mn GSM handsets in India in 2008, expects a 50% increase in sales in 2009. Hand phone giant, Nokia too forecasts a better and more streamlined 2010. Recently, Indian carriers terminated the connections as many as 25 mn non-IMEI wireless handsets for security reasons, thus opening up a huge opportunity for handset players in the country. The 2010 will definitely be something to watch out for.

Heena Jhigan
heenaj@cybermedia.co.in