New Delhi, Dec 14 2009
Bhaskar Hazarika
Nothing succeeds like success! Even dummies! With India set to cross over 500 million mobile phones by the end of the year, there is a growing market here for dummy hand set manufacturers. OSM Global, a global dummy handset major, has already logged onto the telecom success story in India.
Industry estimates say that for each mobile handset model launched in the market, dummy handset makers manufacture anything from 20,000 to 1.5 lakh units per model depending upon the popularity of the model. At present, all dummy handset models are imported into the country.
India’s top three-handset manufacturers — Nokia, Samsung and LG — each launch close to 50 new models every year. The dummy handset market is currently dominated by OSM Global, which set up shop in India a couple of years ago. The company has patents for its dummy handset models. Headquartered in Sweden, the company has its R&D centre in Europe and a manufacturing base in China.
A senior executive from OSM Global, who did not wish to be identified, told Financial Chronicle that the company manufactures dummy for most of the major handset brands in the country. He said with the growth of handsets in the country, dummy handset was a “substantial business”. “We work hand-in-hand with many of the handset makers globally to give the dummy a real touch and feel experience for customers,” he said.
There are three types of dummy phones available in the market today. The hollow dummy with the casing and a fixed screen shot; the touch and feel and the latest one is the interactive dummy. The interactive dummy is similar to the handset with music, LCD panel and audio-video features. The cost of each dummy handset ranges from $5 to $15 per model.
“With more and more feature-rich phones launched, the interactive dummies are prevalent. Depending upon the type and target of customers, we manufacture the dummy. On an average each mobile retail store has five units of dummy per model,” he said.
Essar’s Mobile Store has around 1,300 outlets, Spice group’s Hotspot has 600 stores while Nokia has a presence in 1.9 lakh stores.
© Financial Chronicle
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