Indian mobile brands not in Bangladesh's top 3 list

NEW DELHI, INDIA: According to CMR’s Bangladesh Quarterly MobileHandsets Market Review, 3Q CY 2014 report, Bangladesh continues to show consistent growth in both the feature phone as well as smartphone segments.

As per the report, the market grew 108pc quarter-on-quarter in terms of unit shipments in the third quarter of CY 2014 vis-à-vis the previous quarter (July-September 2014 versus April-June 2014). On an annual basis (July-September 2014 versus July-September 2013), the growth was 16pc in unit shipment terms.

Symphony Mobile is the overall leader in the Bangladesh Mobile Handsets market with its major strength being the vendor’s commanding position in the smartphones segment.

Across the overall Bangladesh Mobile Handsets market as well as the smartphones segment, Symphony Mobile, Walton and Maximus are the local brands with leadership positions, while Nokia and Samsung are the only ‘Tier 1’ international brands with a significant presence.

Faisal Kawoosa, lead telecoms analyst at CMR, said, “Now as the Bangladesh smartphones market continues to show strong growth, it will be increasingly challenging for Symphony Mobile to retain its share. A big and growing market opportunity is always eyed by many! At the same time, what worries me is the poor performance of Indian mobile handset brands. While they have been doing extremely well in the India market, players like Micromax, Karbonn and Lava do not figure in the top three positions in any of the Bangladesh Mobile Handset segments. To my mind, these players need to take a closer look at their market entry and penetration strategies and address the gaps in roll-out, if any.”