Clutter cuts the buzz from this cellphone market

The hustle and bustle of Abids, one of the busiest market places of Hyderabad, gradually fades away as you progress along the bylanes.

The big and noisy market with huge hordings and neon signs is left far behind, and now it's all more traditional and compact. Business is on alright, without its modern attributes. The 'josh', however, is almost double.

A market nestled right in Abids in one of those bylanes is Jagdish market. Famous as a one-stop shop for cell-phones, this market was born in the 80s.

However, Jagdish market was not always known for its cell phones. The busy trading place, came into being as a place where watches, clocks, video games and according to some, even smuggled goods were sold.

It was only with the telecom boom, which invaded India, that the earlier shops made way for the ones selling mobile phones and accessories. Still if you want to try your luck and have time and patience, you can lay your hands on video games too.

Says Zaheer, who runs a complete mobile accessories shop here, "Around four years back, there were just 12 shops selling cell phones here. But now there will be at least 100 people who have entered this business and are earning a living."

One can find dealers mostly in the age group of 14-30 'guarding' the shop and customers too.

It's difficult to surpass a shop without enquiring about the wares stacked there, which range from cell phones and cordless phones (both new and second-hand ones) to accessories like handsfree kits, chargers, batteries, faceplates and cases.

A customer at the market says, "I can get branded cell phones over here at a very good discount. For instance, if I can manage to get a discount of Rs 300 at a company shop, I can get the same model over here at a discount of Rs 800." But not all products are original over here. There are many traders who are ready to sell their products without a bill too.

"So you have to be careful about the product that you are buying. Some may turn out to be fake as well," he cautions.

Nevertheless, there is a glut in the market, which is conspicuous by the fact that each shop has five to six counters run by different people "� an indigenous version of the shop-in-shop concept if one can say so.

But doesn't this business model add to the competition? Zaheer says, "Even though we seem like competitors, there is a mutual understanding among us that we will not try to poach each other's customers. But the fact is that with so many people entering this business, our margins are taking a beating."

"There are hundreds of people who visit us on a daily basis. So though there may be sales of mobile phones with even basic repairing work being done, we are managing to get margins of only Rs 50 on every mobile," he rues.

Incidentally, in spite of the low margins, Zaheer himself is accessible on three cell-phones. Many of the mobiles that the shops stock in this market are claimed to be imported. Says a shopkeeper trying to attract you to his shop before you set your eyes on another, "These are imported from China and Hungary."

And if there are those shopkeepers you wouldn't just leave you, there are also those like Sayeed, who sells cell phone straps, cautioning you from getting cheated.

"If you want to buy an imported one, buy a new model and not a second-hand. The second-hand ones don't last for long. It will just help those who do not want to spend much on buying a new mobile," says this teenager.

Sayeed used to earlier run a book shop in the same place but has now switched over to selling mobiles.

Ask him if that was a good decision and pat comes the reply, "It all depends on the market needs. As of now there is a market for mobile phones over here; so we have shifted our book shop to Secunderabad." And he proceeds to call out to another customer.