Smart phones are penetrating the mobile hand set market in Sri Lanka in a big way as it has already attracted the IT savvy youth in the island, mobile phone market sources said. Smart phones have an operating system which can run many applications, similar to a small computer, while remaining connected to the Internet [...]

The Sundaytimes Sri Lanka

Smart phones catch the eye of Sri Lankan youth

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Smart phones are penetrating the mobile hand set market in Sri Lanka in a big way as it has already attracted the IT savvy youth in the island, mobile phone market sources said.

Smart phones have an operating system which can run many applications, similar to a small computer, while remaining connected to the Internet compared to feature phones which are now widely use, an official of Samsung disclosed.

He said that mobile phone dealers in the island are now offering smart phones at prices ranging from Rs. 15,000 bridging the price gap of feature phones.

According to CyberMedia Research (CMR’s) Sri Lanka Quarterly Mobile Handsets Market Review, 2Q CY 2013, October 2013, Android shipments account for over 96 per cent of smart phone shipments; Samsung is the market leader, followed by Micromax and Zigo Mobile.

Over 0.71 million mobile hand sets were sold in Sri Lanka in 2Q (April-June) 2013, according to this report published by IT, Telecoms and Semiconductor and Electronics, Infrastructure and Lifesciences market intelligence and advisory firm CyberMedia Research.
In the overall Sri Lanka mobile handsets market, Nokia emerged as the leader with a 30.5 per cent share, followed by Samsung at second position with 19.4 per cent and Micromax at third position with 15.3 per cent, in terms of sales (unit shipments) during 2Q 2013, revealed the research report received by Business Times via e-mail.

Commenting on the results, Faisal Kawoosa, Lead Analyst, CMR Telecoms Practice, said, “As the results suggest, there has been a marginal increase in shipments of feature phones in Sri Lanka, while growth in smart phones has been comparatively much higher. Therefore, it becomes imperative for vendors to establish a strong presence in the latter segment.”

Smartphone sales (shipments) touched 0.12 million units in Sri Lanka during 2Q 2013. Samsung emerged as the leader in the smartphones segment with a 50.0 per cent share in 2Q 2013, followed by Micromax with 9.0 per cent.

Zigo Mobile occupied third place with 8.8 per cent share of shipments during the same period.

The second quarter of 2013 saw a significant increase in the entry level Android smart phones in the island nation.

More and more subscribers are now opting to shift from feature phones to smart phones in the urban areas as 3G coverage increases steadily.

Sri Lanka’s mobile industry is one of the most competitive markets in the region with five operators competing for a total addressable population of 21.7 million and the competition among the five operators, Dialog, Mobitel, Etisalat, Airtel and Hutch is expected to remain high in years ahead, a senior official of the Telecommunication Regulatory Commission told Business Times.

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