People who buy multi-SIM phones are usually those seeking better value for their money. According to a recent Nielsen survey, 48% of multi-SIM users are hunting for better deals, offers and cheaper tariffs. The bulk of them, 42%, are working professionals. Surprisingly, the penetration is very low, just 4%, among the skilled and unskilled workers, who could benefit most from them.
It may take more than competitively priced products to promote access to new technology among the so-called bottom-of-pyramid (BoP) users. A focused campaign may also be a pre-requisite. The skilled and unskilled workers, covered in the survey, may also rank low on education, income and media exposure. The word of mouth or viral transmissions may be slower as well in this segment.
There is more data to support this argument. The penetration of multi-SIM phones in rural India is just 9%. Towns with a population of five to ten lakh are hotbeds of multi-SIMs; 21% of these phones are sold here. Just 11% of the multi-SIM phones are sold in towns with 40 lakh plus population. So, BoP products may not always race to the bottom on their own, even when the targeted strata of population meets the income condition.
Another lesser noted aspect of multi-SIMs; they keep the market competitive. The share of smaller telecom operators, who offer attractive deals to gain market share, shoots up among these subscribers. Uninor has just 1% market share among mobile users. But among multi-SIM users, it enjoys a share of 6 %.
Nokia (30%), Samsung (16%), Micromax (12%) and Chinese brands (5%) have marked their presence in this market. For Nokia, which was late to the multi-SIM game, the comeback has been impressive, a rare good news to cheer up the languishing, once market-leading player.
Other interesting details from the Nielsen study: 71 million subscribers or 13 % of mobile subscribers use multi-SIM cards and their tribe is growing. Eighty-one per cent of them are in the 18-35 age group.
Sixty-one per cent of handsets used by multi-SIM owners have dual SIMs. A typical user has two SIM cards, but from different operators. These are usually pre-paid SIM cards, which will help users switch to operators offering better deals easily. Even after getting multiple SIM cards, there is no hike in their monthly mobile bill. Subscribers deftly move between multiple operators without losing sight of their monthly budget. The study, conducted in 18 Indian cities, covered 20,000 mobile users in the 18-55 age group.
DH
Freemake converter
Freemake converter is a software for the new generation. It lets you convert videos to almost any format you may need: AVI, MP4, WMV, MKV, SWF, 3GP, DVD, MPEG, MP3, iPod, iPhone, PSP, Android and so on. You can rip and burn DVD, convert online videos directly from 40+ sites, burn Blu-ray and upload to YouTube as well. Interestingly, you can also use this software to add subtitles to your videos or movies. Like many good things in life, it is is free and easy to use.
There is another software to convert audio files again to a variety of formats: MP3, WMA, WAV, FLAC, AAC, M4A, OGG, iPod, iPhone, iPad and PSP. It also lets you extract audio from video and join audio files. Download it at http://www.freemake.com
(Contributed by Darshan Thimmaiah)SIMple truths
People who buy multi-SIM phones are usually those seeking better value for their money. According to a recent Nielsen survey, 48% of multi-SIM users are hunting for better deals, offers and cheaper tariffs. The bulk of them, 42%, are working professionals. Surprisingly, the penetration is very low, just 4%, among the skilled and unskilled workers, who could benefit most from them.
It may take more than competitively priced products to promote access to new technology among the so-called bottom-of-pyramid (BoP) users. A focused campaign may also be a pre-requisite. The skilled and unskilled workers, covered in the survey, may also rank low on education, income and media exposure. The word of mouth or viral transmissions may be slower as well in this segment.
There is more data to support this argument. The penetration of multi-SIM phones in rural India is just 9%. Towns with a population of five to ten lakh are hotbeds of multi-SIMs; 21% of these phones are sold here. Just 11% of the multi-SIM phones are sold in towns with 40 lakh plus population. So, BoP products may not always race to the bottom on their own, even when the targeted strata of population meets the income condition.
Another lesser noted aspect of multi-SIMs; they keep the market competitive. The share of smaller telecom operators, who offer attractive deals to gain market share, shoots up among these subscribers. Uninor has just 1% market share among mobile users. But among multi-SIM users, it enjoys a share of 6 %.
Nokia (30%), Samsung (16%), Micromax (12%) and Chinese brands (5%) have marked their presence in this market. For Nokia, which was late to the multi-SIM game, the comeback has been impressive, a rare good news to cheer up the languishing, once market-leading player.
Other interesting details from the Nielsen study: 71 million subscribers or 13 % of mobile subscribers use multi-SIM cards and their tribe is growing. Eighty-one per cent of them are in the 18-35 age group.
Sixty-one per cent of handsets used by multi-SIM owners have dual SIMs. A typical user has two SIM cards, but from different operators. These are usually pre-paid SIM cards, which will help users switch to operators offering better deals easily. Even after getting multiple SIM cards, there is no hike in their monthly mobile bill. Subscribers deftly move between multiple operators without losing sight of their monthly budget. The study, conducted in 18 Indian cities, covered 20,000 mobile users in the 18-55 age group.
DH
Freemake converter
Freemake converter is a software for the new generation. It lets you convert videos to almost any format you may need: AVI, MP4, WMV, MKV, SWF, 3GP, DVD, MPEG, MP3, iPod, iPhone, PSP, Android and so on. You can rip and burn DVD, convert online videos directly from 40+ sites, burn Blu-ray and upload to YouTube as well. Interestingly, you can also use this software to add subtitles to your videos or movies. Like many good things in life, it is is free and easy to use.
There is another software to convert audio files again to a variety of formats: MP3, WMA, WAV, FLAC, AAC, M4A, OGG, iPod, iPhone, iPad and PSP. It also lets you extract audio from video and join audio files. Download it at http://www.freemake.com
(Contributed by Darshan Thimmaiah)
