Sixty Five percent of the rural populations are not influenced by advertisements for purchasing mobile phones, says a recent survey made on the consumer behavior of rural market conducted by MediaTek India Technology, a fabless semiconductor company for wireless communications. This study enfolded that the rural segment is more dependent upon their peers, colleagues, and personal experience for a particular mobile handset. This survey was conducted in the month of December 2009 across 40 villages with a sample size of 1046 villagers.
Mr. Arun Gupta, Director-Business Development, MediaTek India Technology stated, “The market survey of mobile purchasing behavior in the rural sector was conducted, aiming to tap the gap between the desires and requirements of the rural consumer in a mobile phone. The mobile market is growing at fast rate today tapping all requisite demands and areas to be competent in the field with new entrants.”
According to the survey, the rate of brand recall of the mobile advertisement is only 19%, which motions that the mobile brand ambassadors, handset style and design do not influence the rural segment. The driving factor for this segment is the long battery life of the phone to be purchased, as in rural areas electricity is a major concern. The subsequent factor is the monthly income which is on an average is Rs.5000, thus the mobile expense has to be affordable. Thus, the data defines that the 55% of people opts for a mobile which falls into a bracket of Rs 2000 or less.
Synchronizing with the above study, the purchasing cycle of the rural market consists of varied consumer with an erratic behavior. It is mainly 67% of them who are motivated to buy a new mobile phone, only when its shelf life gets conclude. The most common problem faced by the users is the battery and the charger, which is not easily repairable in the rural sector. This is because there are less service centers and where one cannot rely on the power supply. Moreover 78% of the people showed willingness in repairing their mobile phones and ready to pay more. Further, this gives an opportunity to the shopkeepers to lure the user to explore the wide range of mobile handsets in the market comprising global, regional and foreign brands.
Today, in the mobile market there is a wide range of brands available with innovative features and latest technology, making the competition stiffer. Thus, looking at the opportunity lying in the rural sector for mobile phones, new brands are entering the market. The age group of 20-30 years make more use of the new mobile variant that has FM, Camera, Loudspeaker, Hindi Language Translator, and Long Battery Life, and available at an affordable price . The shopkeeper attracts the core segment along with the businessmen, service men, and drivers. Also a slight emphasis is given on the farmers and housewives.
Elaborating on the purchasing behavior of the rural masses, Mr. Gupta commented, “To improve the mobile teledensity in this sector, the telecom companies have to set up strong infrastructures with service centers, large data base and other value added services and entrepreneurship.”
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Concluding the bright prospect in this sector, in the mobile handset industry a trend has been witnessed that many companies are moving their focus to the rural sector. The industry experts are predicting the shift form urban sector to rural sector by 2013 will see a growth plunge of from 13% to 36%. The Ministry of Communications and Information Technology has been able to support USO fund for about 3488 cr, from which 5% is contributed to each operator. Also talks now should take some action on the releasing of a new license for a niche rural operator and make it accessible for them to adopt the franchisee model. Looking at the growth prospects there are reports showing that Indian telecom sector is one of the fastest growing industries in India, and soon it will be overcoming the telecom sector of China and Africa
About MediaTek India Technology
MediaTek Inc. is a leading fabless semiconductor company for wireless communications and digital multimedia solutions. The company is a market leader and pioneer in cutting-edge SOC system solutions for wireless communications, high-definition TV, optical storage, DVD and Blue-ray products. Founded in 1997 and listed on Taiwan Stock Exchange under the code "2454", MediaTek is headquartered in Taiwan and has sales and research subsidiaries in Mainland China, Singapore, India, U.S. , Japan, Korea, Ireland, Denmark and England. For more information, please visit MediaTek’s website at www.mediatek.com.