Change is afoot in the Indian handset market. Handset heavyweights such as Nokia, Samsung and LG, which have traditionally dominated the market, are increasingly making room for Indian handset makers like Videocon Mobiles, Micromax, Intex and Karbonn. According to analysts, the business case for such players is fairly straightforward. With roughly one handset being sold in the country every minute and over 2 million Indians purchasing mobile phones every month, the handset market is teeming with opportunities.

To tap this potential, the new breed of handset suppliers has a multi-pronged strategy: provide handsets loaded with features at affordable prices; target the bottom of the pyramid; and use "push-and-pull" marketing strategies. The government's directive barring the use of handsets without IMEI numbers has further helped these vendors by eliminating competition from cheap Chinese handsets.

For local handset makers, a focus on affordability and innovation is the key strategy to take on bigger players. Micromax's maiden offering, the Micromax MTV X360, for example,  is priced at Rs 5,000 and comes equipped with 3D surround sound from Yamaha and Wolfson. According to industry estimates, handset makers Spice, Micromax and Karbonn captured over 10 per cent of the mobile market in India in 2009-10, a significant increase from 4 per cent share in the previous fiscal year. While Micromax had a 4.1 per cent market share in terms of revenue, Spice and Karbonn held 3.9 per cent and 3 per cent share respectively. Other contenders like Lava Mobiles and Lemon had a share of 1.1 per cent and 1 per cent respectively.

However, analysts like Credit Analysis and Research caution that these players will need to constantly invest in innovation and brand building as well as strengthen their distribution network and after-sales services to move up the value chain, both in terms of technology (providing 3G and QWERTY format phones) and markets (moving from Tier II and Tier III towns to urban markets), to counter competition from Chinese players looking to set up shop in India.

However, some analysts believe that as Indian operators move to rural India with their mobile services, especially 3G and mobile broadband, companies like Videocon, Micromax and Lava Mobiles will have a big market to offer feature-rich yet cheap phones. A look at some of the recent offerings of Indian handset makers"¦

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Videocon Mobiles

Videocon has launched nine new handsets in the country, adding to its portfolio of triple-SIM CDMA handsets; QWERTY keypad dual-SIM handhelds; touchscreen devices; and dual-SIM multimedia, camera and music phones. The VC1425, a tripleSIM CDMA handheld (GSM+GSM+1 CDMA RUIM), packs in a VGA camera with 2x zoom and dual speakers, and is priced at Rs 5,399. The company's music portfolio now includes the V204, an entry-level  phone with FM that allows the user to record and play,  and costs Rs 1,375. The V1300, priced at Rs 2,295 includes a currency converter. Videocon's latest camera phone, the V1402 has a 3.5 mm jack to connect to external speakers and is priced at

Rs 2,050 while its new multimedia offerings, the V1705 (Rs 5,899) and the V1602 (Rs 4,099), have a 3.2 and 2 megapixel cameras respectively. Its V1675, designed for easy access to social networking sites, has a QWERTY interface and an optical trackpad, and is priced at Rs 5,995.

Micromax

Micromax has launched the Q6 handheld, which comes equipped with dual-SIM support, a QWERTY keypad and a 2 megapixel camera, at a price of Rs 5,500. Its other features include support for MIDI/ MP3, WAV music files, Java and Bluetooth.

The company's Q55 Bling handheld is a dual-SIM offering that houses a 262,000 colour screen, stereo FM radio, a 2 megapixel camera and GPRS. It also includes a multi-format music player, Bluetooth connectivity, WAP, EDGE and support for Facebook, Opera Mini browser and multi-messenger platforms. The Q55 Bling is priced at Rs 5,499.

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Mi-Fone

Mi-Fone has introduced the Mi-2010 low-cost handset, which supports two GSM connections and comes equipped with GPRS, WAP and MMS facilities. Its other features include a 65,000 colour screen, a 0.1 megapixel camera, torchlight, and 64 ringtones in MP3 and MIDI formats. The handset is priced at Rs 1,999.

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Zen Mobile

Zen Mobile has launched the M25 handset that comes with 72 days of battery back-up. Priced at Rs 3,400, the handset supports two GSM SIM cards and houses a 1.3 megapixel camera and a TFT screen, and has storage capacity for more than 500 contacts. It also has features such as English and Hindi support, Bluetooth connectivity, an FM recorder and expandable memory of up to 4 GB.

Zen has also launched the X380 in select Tier II and Tier III cities. The X380, a GSM+GSM dual-SIM handset, has a TFT display with 65,000 colours, an FM radio, a basic MP3 player, and expandable memory with support for microSD cards of up to 2 GB. Priced at a modest

Rs 1,399, its other features include call/SMS blacklist software, a Hindi language keypad and a mobile tracker.

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Intex Technologies

Intex Technologies' latest offering, the IN 6633, is a dual-SIM (GSM+GSM) handset that allows easy access to instant messaging and social networking sites, supports face-to-face video chat on a 2G platform and has a dual camera. Its other features include Wi-Fi connectivity, a push mail service that enables access to 10 mailboxes, TFT display, wireless FM radio with antenna, an audio player, internal memory of 78 MB, Java, Bluetooth, motion sensor, an answering machine and auto call record facility. The phone is priced at Rs 4,500.

The company's IN4470 is a dual-SIM (GSM+GSM) phone with live video chat facility. The feature, called UM (U and Me) chat, allows four people to carry out live voice, video and text chat with each other. This becomes possible when all the users have activated GPRS on their handhelds. The phone has two cameras, supports surfing of social networking sites and is multilingual. It also has an inbuilt FM radio, audio and video player, pre-set audio equalisers, Bluetooth, PC synchronisation/suite, WAP, mobile tracker, call recorder and expandable memory of up to 4 GB. It is priced at Rs 3,650.

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Unitron Exim

The company has launched the CG 888 handset under its mobile handset brand, Grapes. The CG888 has a QWERTY keypad and two dual-SIM options (CDMA+ GSM or GSM+GSM), and costs Rs 4,999. It also offers access to social networking site Facebook, Yahoo! and MSN Instant Messenger; has a 1.3 megapixel camera, a web camera; expandable memory of up to 2 GB; support for MP3/MP4 and 3GP audio and video formats; FM radio; WAP support; Bluetooth 1.2; etc.

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Spice Mobiles

Spice Mobiles' latest offering, the S-7000 video handset, is priced at Rs 7,499 and houses a 3.2-inch full touchscreen for wide screen viewing, digital surround sound and a multiple format video player. Its multimedia features include a 3.2 megapixel camera, Bluetooth connectivity, expandable memory of up to 16 GB, an inbuilt modem and support for EDGE. It also supports dualSIM cards and has a built-in FM radio.

Spice has also launched the S-1200, a 12 megapixel handheld with features like an inbuilt stereo, Bluetooth, TV out with cable, and 32 GB expandable memory support which can store up to 10,000 pictures. The handset is priced at Rs 14,500.

Wynn Telecom

Wynn Telecom has unveiled seven dualSIM (GSM+GSM) handhelds, with prices ranging from Rs 1,500 to Rs 5,000. All the handhelds come equipped with video recording and playback, an inbuilt MP3 player, mobile tracker and number blacklist facilities. The Y50 handset has a QWERTY keypad, track ball navigation, a 2 megapixel camera with flash and a TFT colour screen. The Y30 handset comes with a 2 megapixel camera, a webcam, a PC synchronisation facility and a shared phonebook. The Y22 offers users a VGA camera, torchlight, currency converter and support for Bengali and Tamil languages. The Y21 has a digital camera and application protection facility and the Y20 has a 1,000-name-capacity phonebook and file protection facility. The Y11 is GPRS enabled and the Y10 has a 500-name-capacity phonebook.

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Karbonn Mobiles

Karbonn Mobiles has unveiled two new handhelds, the K777 and the K485. Both handsets pack in an MP3 player, FM radio, voice recorder, video player and GPRS. The K777, a dual-SIM (GSM+GSM) device, has a QVGA screen and a 3.2 megapixel camera, and comes pre-loaded with Java applications, games, Opera Mini web browser and Google search. The offering also features expandable memory of up to 8 GB and is priced at Rs 4,500. The K 485 is a multimedia handset with a digital camera, WAP, MMS and expandable memory of up to 4 GB. Its other features include handwriting recognition and Hindi language support. It is priced at Rs 3,500.

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LAVA Mobiles

LAVA Mobiles' most recent offering is the M23, a dual-SIM handset that has an inbuilt MP3/MP4 player, an FM radio, a digital camera, and video player with support for unlimited video recording. Priced at Rs 4,499, the phone's other features include support for WAP, GPRS, Bluetooth connectivity, T flash card support of up to 8 GB, and Hindi language support.

The handset maker has also launched its Lava A 9 for Rs 5,999. This phone packs in a 262,000 colour TFT display, a 3.2 megapixel camera, a built-in FM radio and MP3/MP4 player, Bluetooth connectivity, 256 MB internal memory, JAVA and email support, access to Nimbuzz instant messenger, Opera Mini browser, a back-up facility for contacts, support for EDGE/GPRS, WAP 2.0 and inbuilt games.

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Lemon Mobiles

Lemon Mobiles has launched the iQ 707 dual-SIM (GSM+GSM) handheld for

Rs 4,400. The phone has a 2.2-inch display screen with a full QWERTY keyboard  and a trackball for navigation. It packs in a 3.2 megapixel camera with digital zoom, an inbuilt Opera Mini web browser, 20 MB of internal memory, Bluetooth connectivity, PC synchronisation, USB and GPRS. It also includes access to Nimbuzz instant messenger, has an FM radio, an inbuilt MP3 player, video recorder, world clock, torch, alarm, calculator, stopwatch and a phonebook with storage capacity for 3,000 contacts.

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Bright Telecom

New handset player Bright Telecom has introduced the G588 under the G-Fone brand. This phone offers a QWERTY keyboard, support for dual-SIM cards (GSM+GSM or GSM+CDMA), an inbuilt multimedia player and support for up to 8 GB of memory via microSD cards. It comes with an Indian calendar, a 65,000 colour screen, a 1.3 megapixel camera and Bluetooth connectivity and is priced at Rs 4,799.

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Olive Telecommunications

Olive Telecommunications has introduced the FrvrOn (Forever On) handset in the country. The FrvrOn comes with a 1.5-inch colour display, stereo speakers, FM radio, polyphonic ringtones and a stereo headset. The phone is priced at Rs 1,699.

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Airfone

Emerging low-cost handset manufacturer Airfone has launched the AF-27, which comes pre-loaded with content from three recent Bollywood movies as well as animations and wallpapers. The handheld also has a 2.6-inch colour screen, dual-SIM card, GPRS and Java support, FM stereo radio, up to 8 GB microSD support, Bluetooth connectivity, a voice recorder, a music player and a 1.3 megapixel camera, at a price of Rs 3,599.