Is India going to witness a fierce price war in the mobile phones arena? Can’t be ruled out. With Motorola launching the cheapest-to-date mobile in the Indian market on Thursday, stage seems set for a cut-throat price war among the mobile phone makers.
Motorola introduced GSM handset C115, carrying an easy-to-afford price tag of Rs 1,700, whereas other entry-level phones from Nokia, Samsung, LG and Sony-Ericsson cost anything between Rs. 3,000 and Rs. 4,000 range. Incidentally, C115 also happens to be the its first made-in-India phone instrument. Motorola currently holds 7% of India’s mobile phone market share, while Nokia leads the market with 59% and Samsung 13% share.
C115 has black and white display system with up to 500 minutes of talk-time. Motorola has tied up with mobile operators Hutch and Bharti for distribution of its new pocket-friendly instrument.
It may be pointed out that although mobile phones made their presence in India around one-and-a-half decades ago, they had more of cosmetic value than anything else. The rates were so high that very few people could make the actual use of it. Being charged even for receiving calls might sound unbelievable today, but that’s how it was then. However, ever since the launch of Reliance Infocomm’s “Reliance India Mobile” of Kar lo dunia mutthi mein-fame in 2002 and appearance of more players in the sector metamorphosed the mobile phone sector in India, once and for all.
What we are paying now for talking over our mobile phones is almost one-fifth of what we used to pay till a few years back. And this couldn’t have been possible without a tariff war among the mobile operators.
Similarly, no matter which company offers the cheapest mobile phone, the consumers are sure to have the last laugh, once again!
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