UPWARDLY MOBILE

TO BECOME AATMANIRBHAR IN MOBILE MANUFACTURING, THE COMPANIES SHOULD INVEST IN RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT, LABOUR. LENDING AGENCIES ALSO SHOULD PROVIDE FUNDS AT ATTRACTIVE RATES

- ANUP KUMAR MAHTO

Our country had 1.2 billion mobile subscribers in 2021, of which around 750 million are Smartphone users. Again Bharat is the world’s second-largest mobile phone manufacturer after China. And we can assume that with the current pace of growth, we are not far from becoming the world’s leading handset market. According to the Indian Cellular Association (ICA), the annual production of mobile phones within the country has increased from 3 million devices in 2014 to 173 million mobiles in 2021. Bharat now accounts for 22 per cent of global mobile production with India's smartphone market revenue crossed USD 38 billion in 2021 with 27 per cent growth in comparison to 2020. Today the telecom industry is one of the top five employment creators in our country.

Worth mentioning here is the fact that despite its huge market and enormous manufacturing capacity Bharat, is still waiting for its own strong mobile brand. Chinese mobile phone companies like Xiaomi, Realme, Oppo, Vivo, Motorola, Lenovo and Huawei are giving tough competition to well-established brands like Samsung and Apple iPhone, while Bharatiya mobile phone brands like Micromax, Lava, Karbonn, Intex and Reliance LYF are not doing as per expectation even in their own domestic market. Currently, the top 10 mobile phone brands in India of this year are 1. Xiaomi (26.46 per cent); 2. Samsung (17.35 per cent); 3. Vivo (15.09), 4. Realme (12.29); 5. Oppo (11.53); 6. Apple iPhone (3.93 per cent); 7. OnePlus (3.55 per cent); 8. Unknown Brands (1.52 per cent), 9. Motorola (1.33 per cent); 10. Huawei (1.08 per cent) and unfortunately none of these is a Bharatiya mobile brand.