Motorola eyes on No. 2 slot in India
By agencies   |   Wednesday, 01 March 2006, 20:30 IST
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HONG KONG: Motorola Inc., the world's second-largest mobile phone maker, is close to taking the No. 2 slot in India as it ramps up its marketing and manufacturing facilities, a company executive said. Motorola’s Senior Vice-President of Asia, Simon Leung said, “We came from a very small market share. We have stepped up our efforts. We have made it the headquarters of our high growth markets and we should he number two in no time in India.” Industry sources said Motorola was currently the number three, trailing leader Finland's Nokia and Samsung Electronics. Leung also said the company could also build a plant to make mobile phones in the world's fastest growing mobile market - India, which has surpassed China in terms of net monthly customer additions. India has a mobile penetration rate of just eight percent, added a record 4.7 million subscribers in January, taking its total mobile user base to more than 81 million. This exceeds the combined population of France and the Netherlands. He said, “We're now looking at the possibility of creating a handset manufacturing facility in India.” The company already had a tie-up to make network equipment, which is a requirement to bid for contracts from state-run Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL). Apart from India, Leung named China as its target region, although he didn't expect third-generation (3G) equipment contracts to be as big as expected. The reason behind that was operators already have nationwide networks based on second-generation technology and only need to begin rolling out 3G networks selectively. Motorola currently has about 20 percent market share worldwide behind Nokia, which is also the leader in India with more than two-thirds of the market. Nokia is in the process of setting up a handset unit in India, while South Korea's Samsung and LG Electronics Inc. have plants that are already producing phones for the local market.

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