Though dual SIM mobile handsets currently comprise only about 1 per cent of the country’s total handsets market, industry experts believe it would capture about 5 per cent of the market by December 2009, with single-chip dual SIM phones available at affordable rates.
According to the experts, one of the key factors pushing up the demand of the dual SIM phones is the ease of operating and carrying one mobile phone instead of two. They also maintain that the mobile handsets equipped with dual SIM facility are beneficial for frequent travellers who often end up paying hefty roaming charges. However, with the launch of the dual SIM facility, customers can have a single phone with two SIM cards which help them retain the home network number as well as the visiting network (another state) SIM.
Among the major players in the dual SIM market are, Fly, Spice, and Samsung. The experts have also informed that in China, the dual SIM handsets have captured almost 40-50 per cent of the total market share. According to estimates, in India there is a demand for 6-7 million handsets per month which translates into 72 to 84 million handsets annually, so there is a huge potential.
Speaking to Business Standard, Meridian Mobile (whose flagship brand is ‘Fly’), CEO Rajiv Khanna said: “Dual SIM as a segment is showing tremendous growth. If we look at the trends in China, the dual SIM market is contributing to 40 per cent of the Chinese market. The same trend is believed to be replicated here. Currently, the dual SIM market in India is just 1 per cent of the total handset market nationally. This is expected to grow to 5 per cent by 2009 with the advent of affordable single-chip dual SIM phones.”
He also added that dual SIM phones contribute 6-7 per cent of the company’s total sales and are expected to contribute three-fold by December 2009.
Even Punjab has responded well to the dual SIM phones. According to industry estimates, the state contributes 9-10 per cent of the total dual SIM phone sales in the country.
Kunal Ahooja, CEO of Spice Mobiles Ltd, is also upbeat about the future of the dual SIM handsets in the country.
“We expect that dual SIM phones will contribute about 40 per cent of our total handset sales by December 2009,” he claims.
At present, the share of dual SIM phones is about 20-30 per cent of the company’s total sales. Spice, which was the first brand to launch dual SIM handsets in India, currently has seven dual SIM phones.
Ahooja also added the dual SIM market is huge and is likely to grow exponentially in near future.
