Goafest:Mobiles for services, says Shivakumar

India would have 500 million mobile consumers by 2010 with 60 million mobile users having video capability, 100 million with music capability, 200 million with radio capability, 250 million camera capability and 250 million with internet capability. These are some of the facts shared by D Shivakumar, vice-president and managing director Nokia India in the industry conclave on the first day of Goafest yesterday.

He said that "Mobiles are not just about voice anymore but service. Any service which would be delivered from a physical building like banking would be delivered from mobile phones. This would open up a big opportunity for the advertisers in India, whose potential may not been spotted by them yet."

He said that in the next three years, India would add one and a half more mobile users then what it added in the last 10 years. In India, it is still the single largest durable in the country and is since Indian economy is chiefly led by consumption, mobiles would be a great way for advertisers to reach those consumers.

Elaborating further on how the consumers would spend money in the next few years, he said that their spending trend can be represented by ETC: E for Entertainment and Education, T for Transport and C for Communication. Its on ETC, where consumers would be spending the most.

He classified the Indian consumer into three types: one which says I will pay more and get more (50 million such consumers in India), secondly the product I bought should be worth the price (150 million) and third I will pay less and get less (the rest of the consumers).

The third category, says Shivakumar, is not anywhere else in the world and exists only in India. This is the section which signifies "Rich people buy big brands for vanity and poor people buy it for security."

It is hence a challenge for the Indian economy and advertisers to take this set of consumers to a higher level of spending.