Android craze is going to fever pitch globally. Android could soon be mistaken for a mobile phone brand. India is no different. All the mobile brands which do not have an operating system of their own like Nokia, Apple or RIM, are flocking to Android. HTC, Samsung, Spice, Videocon and Micromax are leading that revolution. More than 20 Android phones and tablets are released in India so far. And many more are lined up.
In spite of this Android’s India share is less than 1%. US contributes 66% and China contributes 13%. As you can see from the Infographic below, India doesn’t even figure in the list. Here’s the Infographic from GigaOM.
The main reason could be because the initial Android phones launched HTC Desire, HTC Legend and Acer A1 Liquid are priced northwards of Rs. 20,000. Since then the Android phone costs have come down to sub-15k and in some cases sub-10k which would trigger a mass adoption. Acer beTouch is the cheapest Android phone available at Rs. 6990. LG Optimus and Samsung Galaxy are other options. Videocon Zeus is available for Rs. 10999. Micromax is launching its Android phone on October 20, which is rumored to be less than 10k. When this happens the infographic above would be different in the coming few months. India’s Android share would increase remarkably.
The future in general for Android looks very optimistic.
The biggest seller for android is its marketplace. Though it doesn’t have as many apps as Apple store but it is the only other operating system which can compete with the Apple store. Android has more than 70000 apps when compared to Apple’s 250,000+ apps. The only problem with Apple is, its hardware is expensive. And that is helping Android in a big way.
With the impending 3G launch, the rush for 3G smart phones is evident. Depending of the tariffs, which I expect to be very competitive, the demand will only increase. Many would be replacing their existing handsets to get a hold of a 3G phone. SMS which is the single most used utility on a mobile phone now, will have competition. If the data rates keep falling the adoption will continue to increase which spurs the demand for 3G devices. Android will be at the center of India’s 3G revolution.
The only thing missing is useful India-centric apps which move beyond social networking and messaging.
No Responses to “Android’s India share is less than1%!”