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Samsung Grand emerges on top: The Mobile Indian survey

afaqs! news bureau and afaqs!, New Delhi
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Samsung Grand emerges on top: The Mobile Indian survey

Of the 25 most viewed handsets in India, 14 were from Indians players as compared to 11 from global brands.

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In the rapidly changing mobile business, one year is a very long time. Ever since the Handset Hotlist was launched, models of Indian brands have had a difficult time finding their way into the list because of the clout of international brands such as Nokia and, more recently, Samsung. This month, for the second time in 2013, models of Indian brands outnumber those from MNCs.

As recently as in May 2012, only two of the 25 models were from Indian brands. The numbers rose till the last quarter of 2012, when the Indian figure held at nine models. Since February, however, the figure has consistently been at 12 or more.

According to a study of online preferences of over one million people who visited the website (www.themobileindian.com) in April this year, of the 25 most viewed handsets in India, 14 were from Indians players, as compared to 11 from global brands.

Commenting on the survey, a spokesperson of The Mobile Indian says, "Of late, we have been seeing Indian brands launching smartphones in the same price range in which MNC players are introducing feature phones. That is why consumers seem to be attracted to domestic brands."

A majority of the handsets from Indian brands that have made it to the top 25 in the last four months are entry level smartphones which are priced below Rs 10,000. Consumers seem tempted to check these out online because they can get only a feature phone from an international brand for the same price.

There is a new model at the top of the heap, Samsung Galaxy Grand, which has been on the list for seven months, a surprisingly long period considering models come and go all the time. It has climbed three ranks even as last month's topper, Micromax A110 Canvas 2, is the runner up. At the third place is another Micromax model, Canvas HD A116, which entered the list only in February.

In this month's Hotlist, similar to last month's report, Micromax and Samsung have eight and five handsets respectively. Other than these two brands, there are a surprising six handsets from Karbonn, two each from Nokia and Sony, and one each from Apple and BlackBerry.

The Relative Score, which was introduced recently, indicates the popularity of each handset vis a vis the leader. Last month, consumer interest was skewed towards a handful of phones, so much so that No. 9 onwards, all of them scored in single digits. This month, the enthusiasm is far more evenly spread: even the model at the bottom manages a Relative Score of 14.

Top 25 Handset Hotlist for May 2013
Rank April Last March Change Model Relative Score Price (in Rs.) OS Screen Size
1 4 3 Samsung Galaxy Grand Duos I9082 100 19,800 Android 5
2 1 -1 Micromax A110 Canvas 2 81 9,999 Android 5
3 5 2 Micromax Canvas HD A116 61 14,490 Android 5
4 2 -2 Apple iPhone 5 42 43,990 iOS 4
5 na new Micromax Canvas Viva A72 40 6,499 Android 5
6 18 12 Karbonn A6 34 5,299 Android 4
7 14 7 Karbonn Titanium S5 32 11,990 Android 5
8 9 1 Micromax Bolt A51 29 4,500 Android 3.5
9 6 -3 Samsung Galaxy S Duos 29 11,800 Android 4
10 na new Samsung Galaxy Young 26 8,299 Android 3.27
11 na new BlackBerry Z10 25 40,990 BB OS 10 4.2
12 na new Nokia Lumia 520 21 9,999 windows 8 4
13 10 -3 Sony Xperia J 20 12,990 Android 4
14 na new Karbonn A27 Retina 19 8,500 Android 4.3
15 na new Karbonn A3 18 3,500 Android 4
16 15 -1 Micromax Ninja A27 17 3,300 Android 3.5
17 na new Micromax Ninja A91 17 8,499 Android 4.5
18 12 -6 Micromax A65 Smarty 4.3 17 5,200 Android 4.3
19 na new Nokia Lumia 620 17 14,099 windows 8 3.8
20 na new Karbonn A7 16 6,400 Android 3.5
21 na new Samsung Galaxy Win 16 17,900 Android 4.7
22 13 -9 Micromax Bolt A35 16 3,999 Android 4
23 8 -15 Sony Xperia Z 15 37,990 Android 5
24 na new Karbonn A4 14 4,599 Android 4
25 16 -9 Samsung Galaxy Y Duos Lite 14 5,990 Android 2.8
The Mobile Indian Intex iball Canvas Handset Hotlist TMI
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