The handset craze

On an average, 2006 witnessed three handset launches (CDMA & GSM) every month. India's handset market is very similar to that of cars. The high-tech PDAs correspond to the luxury cars and the good old Maruti 800 takes the place of the no-frills handset segment.

Just as a Lamborghini owner drives at 150 kilometres per hour even if the full speed of his car is about 250 kilometres per hour, rarely using his car's capacity, the same is with high-tech phones. They are the most advanced ones and rich in features, and yet its users never use all the available technological features.

The number of such consumers is the tip of the iceberg, and the bottom is where the money is for names like Spice, Haier, BenQ-Siemens and Fly Mobiles. Not to forget, brands like Motorola and LG that are also trying to woo the masses with feature-rich, yet attractively priced phones.

Estimates suggest that a little more than two million handsets are sold every month in India, out of which 70 per cent comprises entry-level handsets.

No wonder these wannabe handset manufacturers are aggressively looking for consumers willing to spend about Rs 7,500 and above for a handset. An attractive design, coloured screen, maybe a decent camera, a simple user interface, a built in FM radio and some free Bollywood tunes are enough to keep the masses excited.

When you see Priyanka Chopra gifting a Spice telephone o her brother on Rakhi, you are bound to notice the message that the phones are meant for the young and it does not cost a bomb to gift one.

Spice's latest hit was a sub-10k phone with a stylus. Yes, the stylus looks out of place with candy bar phone but it is a good phone with decent handwriting recognition tools. .

Meridian Mobile, a part of the UK-based Meridian Group began with the launch of five models of mobile phones under the brand name Fly. If you don't ponder long on the name, you would notice that these phones take after Motorola's flat keypad and razor thin form factor.

A range that oscillates between Rs 8,000 and Rs 10,000, Fly manufactures in slider, clamshell and candy bar shapes coupled with decent display screens. They are expected to launch a PDA phone too.

Haier Telecom India with its GSM and CDMA range of handsets retails at a price range of Rs 2,000 to Rs 15,000, come loaded with features such as polyphonic ring tones and colour display (a clear must-haves in the mass segment).

Haier P7, the pen like phone is futuristic in its design and can be equalled to a fashion statement. If you are a sucker for looks that resemble a big pen, can be conveniently clipped to your pocket (this device cannot be kept in your jeans pocket) and come bundled with an average VGA camera, then go for Haier.

Else, the company has other options too. Admittedly, design is the only focal point with Haier phones. For instance, Haier M2000 that comes with touch screen was launched in pink colour in 2006 and looks like a flattened Motorola Ming.

Lack of camera, Bluetooth and a not-so-great music player, makes it a phone for those who do not demand more from their handsets. LG and Motorola have tried their hand too, to clinch some of the entry-level phone market from Nokia.

LG's M6100 and Moto KRZR, though not exactly 'cheap', are examples of music phones with a bling factor.

With personalisation of phones becoming more important now, expect interchangeable covers (one's which change a phone's shape), accessories that appeal to the youth and more funky coloured form factors would hit the entry-level phone segment in 2007.