Month: March 2013

Which Brands Will Benefit from 3G SmartPhone Upgrade Cycle ?

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It is apparent that local smartphone brands gained share from foreign brands in 2012. Although Samsung remained the market share leader throughout the year, local brands, especially Lenovo, made significant progress. At the end of 2012, local brands’ combined market share was 61%, and we expect this to edge up to 66% in 2013, as brand names outgrow whitebox players.

As Operators derive higher profits from local brand smartphones than from Apple / Samsung smartphones local brands are likely to gain more subsidy share, even though overall operators’ subsidies could remain flat. Further, a successful flagship model also helps promote brand image, thus increasing sales volume across the product line. Notably, all flagship models (quad-core, 4”+ touch display, 8MP, etc.) from local brands are priced at below USD 600.

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Can MVNO Policy be Re-Wriitten in India after Virgin’s Failure ?

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In India, Virgin Mobile started its MVNO (though later changed, as a JV partner to Tata Indicom) in 2008. The company used Tata’s CDMA network to offer its services under the brand Virgin mobile and focused on attracting the youth segment with a heavy focus on advertising lower tariffs. Virgin, along with Tata, was the first to introduce “1p/sec call rates” and “get paid for incoming calls” like offers in the country. After failing to make an impact in a market with already low tariffs, Virgin decided to sell its stake to Tata.

India is a diverse Country with Large Population like China and here is how they are going to Play the MVNo Game in China.

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MarketShare of SmartPhone Mobile Handsets in China

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The China smartphone market is price driven (sub-Rmb1000 or US$150); consensus believes aggressive pricing will continue in 2013. We think the market will remain fragmented, but selective brands in China could benefit in 2013 through enlarged scale. We think share gains at Lenovo and ZTE could help the companies defend margins at the operating level … Read more

Nokia Lumia Windows Phone too Late to Take on the Google Android Challenge

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Nokia Lumia Launch IndiaNokia India has launched two smartphones to its Lumia series with the Lumia 720 targeted at the mid-range segment and the Lumia 520 targeted at the entry-level market. Nokia’s CEO, Stephen Elop, the launch of such smartphones now firmly puts Nokia and Microsoft’s Windows Phone 8 presence across all smartphone price points, starting from the Lumia 520 at the entry level to the Lumia 920 at the highest end, thus making a better mobile experience more broadly available.

The Lumia 720’s main highlighted attraction is the camera which has an aperture of f/1.9 on a Carl Zeiss lens, bigger than all the smartphones in its price-range and also some of the high-end

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ZTE Shifts Focus to Operators for Increasing Sales

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ZTE sold 65mn handsets in 2012 and became the 4th largest OEM in the world, according to IDC. 70% of the handset revenue came from smartphone. Looking into 2013, we expect ZTE to ship 40mn smartphone, up 42% YoY. ZTE ships ~40% of its smartphone in domestic market and ~60% in overseas. We expect ZTE to continue focusing on operator channel in 2013 and believe management should be cautious about moving towards open channel, due to high marketing expense. In China, growing volume in TD models would also benefit ZTE, who has a competitive edge against peers in TD. TD models deliver higher margin for ZTE thanks to less competition thus far.

ZTE management acknowledged that there’s still a gap between ZTE

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Indian Government Must allocate More 3G Spectrum

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Along with relatively inferior 3G spectrum, high population density in India and relatively less amount of spectrum with each operator is also likely to necessitate higher number of towers. Indian telecom operators own very low amount of 3G spectrum, resulting in a need for higher number of towers due to spectrum scarcity. Telecom operators in … Read more

3G and 4G proliferation to Drive tenancies and number of towers

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The telecom operators have paid large-sums for acquiring 3G and BWA licenses. We believe they will focus on rolling out 3G / BWA services relatively quickly to start getting returns on their investments. Currently, operators are installing 3G/BWA equipments on their current tenancies, which is called loading. Operators have to pay an amount over and above the standard rates to install these equipments. Loading is likely to be the near-term revenue growth driver for tower companies as 2G-ready sites get upgraded to make them 3G/4G-ready.

However, loading alone would not help to roll out seamless coverage since 3G and 4G spectrum is relatively inferior at 2100 MHz and 2300 MHz. To roll out coverage for these services, telecom operators

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Airtel 40 Mbps VDSL Broadband in Hyderabad

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Looks like Hyderabad is the city leading the internet revolution in India. Idea Cellular has introduced WiFi Broadband in Hyderabad at a differential tariff compared to rest of India. And now Airtel has launched 40 Mbps DSL broadband at unbelievable prices. In line with their data usage and requirements, Airtel customers can now choose from … Read more