Sellers and buyers of mobile phones are vying for the top spot in their respective fields in a market that is getting hotter by the day

POLYPHONIC tones, colour screen, multimedia messaging, downloadable games, Bluetooth technology, VGA camera with flash, noise cancelling speaker phone, 1.3 megapixel camera, multimedia card etc.

These are just some of the features that are dominant in the latest generation of mobile phones available in the market these days. And the public is simply loving it. However, the segment of society that is living these new facilities the most is the young generation. In fact, it has almost become a craze among the young and the affluent as it is now the mobile phone that is reflecting the financial status of a man.

Seeing this vibrant trend, mobile phone companies have been rolling out new models of smart and innovative mobile phones in a competition that is becoming more vigorous by the passing day. Subsequently, mobile phone shops have been doing brisk business.

Other than the above mentioned features, mobile phones now also contain FM radio receivers, a flash light and MP3 audio. And this has really attracted a deluge of models and varied prices.

For instance, the prevailing market rates for Nokia 7610 is Rs29,500 while Nokia 3200 costs Rs13,000. Nokia 6600 with a camera comes for Rs19,500, 2100 for Rs5,400, model 2300 for Rs5,600, 3100 for Rs7,200 and 6610i for Rs12,800 .

Samsung is in the competition with E600 (Rs16,000), E800 (Rs22,800) and D140 (Rs22,500) Sony Ericsson’s (previously simply known as Ericsson) has its K700 (Rs21,500) and P900 (Rs40,000) luring buyer’s attention.

LG’s 7050 model is a popular model with a price tag of Rs10,500, while Siemens CX65, which is one of the better options with voice recording, carries a price tag of Rs14,500.

However, the three most popular contenders in the ring, for the title of the most popular mobile are Nokia’s 3310 (Rs4000), Samsung’s C100 (Rs7000) and Sony Ericsson’s T610 (Rs11,000). But as if the existing range wasn’t colourful enough, the Chinese too have decided to have a go at the market. But they have their work cut out for them as Nokia commands the market here, as they do all over the globe. They dominate the Pakistani market, the rest of which is divided between Samsung, LG, Siemens, Sony Ericsson and Motorola.

Distributors of Chinese mobiles are now busy advertising their ware through huge billboards on all the major roads, throughout the country. Their’s is an attempt to divert customer attention from the seasoned models. Currently, Chinese mobile names like Bird, are priced at Rs3,700 while Sento sells in the range of Rs3,200-3,300. A number of other Chinese brands too will be entering the market soon.

According to a distributor, the prices mentioned above are not constant. They fluctuate daily and as yet, no market trend has determined the exact reason for this.

Nevertheless, this market is extremely cost-conscious and costly mobiles are out of range for most of the buyers. But that means that the low-priced Chinese phones should be a hit. Not quite.

Market commentators contend that the market is mature enough and most of the people have a mindset that Chinese products mean low quality. And then, they also think that the Chinese mobiles entered the market late. Otherwise the designs, features and prices are well enough to change the mood of a prospective buyer looking for Nokia, Samsung, LG etc.

Many sellers say that in the last two years Chinese products like motorcycles, toys, stationery, electronic goods, footwear etc., have already injected a new buying euphoria among price-conscious customers who seem to have found an alternative to costly locally-made and imported items.

This notion of cheap Chinese mobile holds some promise for the consumers who have to compromise on quality and not on price.

Manager Mobile Zone and Top Tune outlet at Gulshan-e-Iqbal, Asim Farooqui says that highly advance mobile phones with unique features have a select audience.

“Mobiles with camera option are more popular among the upper and upper middle class segments. But these are not the ones, representing 60 per cent of the buyers who prefer to economize when procuring a mobile set. Costly mobiles with cameras and other features are considered a status symbol in the selected segment of the society,” he adds saying that 30-40 per cent of consumers carry mobile phones for status symbol.

Farooqui is of the opinion that Chinese mobile phones have managed to gain some popularity due to their low price. However, these cheap phones have some drawbacks like warranty problems and after sales service as no authorized dealer is engaged in selling Chinese mobiles.

At present, there are two types of mobile phones; one that are original and the other that isn’t. For instance, a Nokia, that is originally a Finnish company, is also available of Hungarian and German origin. However, there are mobile phones that come with the tag, ‘Made by Nokia’. This is of Chinese origin. The same is the case with some other products.

A Malaysian model of ‘Sony Ericsson’ is also available. The difference to note here is the maker’s tag — Made in Finland or Made by Nokia, Made by Samsung, Made by LG etc.

Some price-conscious customers do not prefer buying a mobile set from the authorized distributors since some unauthorized dealers have recently started offering mobile sets, Rs500-1,000 less than the price offered by authorised dealers.

Faroouqi thinks this price disparity usually relates to the procurement of mobiles sets from the sources. Authorized dealers directly buy sets from the companies while unauthorized distributors bring in the product from informal channels; however, they give the same guarantee as the authorized dealers do.

Farooqui dispels the impression that authorized dealers are overcharging in Pakistan. In fact, he claims that mobile phones in Pakistan are being marketed at cheaper rates as compared to other parts of the world. On entry of refurbished mobile phones, he says that buyers have started avoiding this type of sets because already these are rejected sets.

Mobile phone dealers are predicting a tough fight between the current and new players. They think that the customer base will expand by at least 10-15 per cent and thus forecast tough competition for the new players. The name of the game will be tariff.

Irrespective of the fact that Pakistani mobile phone market has a lot of potential to grow in view of the current 3.8 per cent customers base in a population of 150 million the pace of development here still does not match the emerging markets like India and China.

In an interview, Sony Ericsson’s chief executive Carl Henric Svanberg has forecast that the world will have almost two billion mobile telephone users by 2006 due to growth in emerging markets such as India and China. The world has now 1.5 million mobile phone subscribers. At least 50 per cent of foreign cell phone growth will come from emerging markets.

India’s booming mobile phone market is adding 1.8 million customers every month and growing between 15-20 per cent annually. Currently there are 40 million mobile phone users in India, a number that is reputed to reach 100 million by 2005. But China already has a 300 million strong mobile phone subscriber base and it is increasing by four to five million a month. Mobile phone dealers are indeed in for a long hard slug for this expanding market.