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Case study – Nokia's strategies in Indian mobile handsets markets during

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Article  in  International Journal of Technology Marketing · January 2011

DOI: 10.1504/IJTMKT.2011.043448

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Case Study - Nokia’s Strategies in Indian Mobile Handsets Markets During
2002 to 2006
H.M.Jha ‘Bidyarthi’, Ashish K. Srivastava, P. V. Bokad and L. B. Deshmukh

ABSTRACT

The Indian mobile handsets market witnesses today a number of leading brands namely Sony
Ericsson, Samsung, LG, Apple, HTC, Blackberry, Motorola, Acer along with many other new
entrants which flooded this market with many low-price editions and with fabulous features,
though Nokia is the first which created this market. Unlike the erstwhile radio industry,
television industry and many other electronics goods industry in India which grew with
marketing orientation from the stage of production concept to that of societal marketing
concept whereby the market leaders which were instrumental in creation of market turned
out to be victims of erosion of market in favor of rival companies, Nokia beat this growth
path in mobile handsets industry differently. Nokia took novel paths that not only kept on
strengthening its market potential but also caused its diversification serving sustainably the
interests of all the stakeholders from companies to consumers. The present paper is a case
study of Nokia’s success strategies during the years 2002 - 2006 in Indian mobile handsets
market driven purely by its own marketing orientation that suggests many management
lessons.

Keywords: Market potential, Sustainable marketing strategy, Electronics industry, Marketing

concepts

About 4 million new mobile handsets could be sold every month currently in India as the
Indian cellular telephony market is now adding close to 4 millions new mobile connections
(GSM as well as CDMA) every month1. This does not count the replacement market.
Naturally, handset manufacturers are working hard to ensure they don't miss the bus. Not that
there has been a large number of new entrants in this market segment but at the same time the
marketing practices have also diversified in tune with the rising competition level. Nokia, that
created this market, follows its own path and its own marketing philosophy which the present
study tries to bring forth for capturing the emerging management lessons from this case.

1. INTRODUCTION

The Indian mobile handsets industry is growing at nearly 50 per cent every year and 33
million new GSM handsets were sold in 2006. The Indian market for mobile phones, in
addition to its base of 170 million subscribers, is one of the most cost-effective in the world.
Call rates in India are among the lowest anywhere making a mobile phone call costs two
cents in India, compared with about four cents in China. The market has tremendous growth
potential. Most of the growth has been penetration-led, which means placing devices in
consumers' hands. The following chart no. – 1 indicates the present status of Indian telecom
sector.
 Chart No. - 1: Showing Current Status Profile of the Telecom Sector in India4

S. No. Descriptions
1. Indian Telecom market is one of the fastest growing markets in the world.
2. With its 562.21 million Telephone connection as on December 31, 2009, it is the
second largest network in the world after China.
3. It is second largest wireless network in the world.
4. About 15 million connections are being added every month.
5. The target of 500 million telephones by 2010 has been achieved in
September 2009 itself.
6. Wireless telephones are increasing at faster rate. The share of wireless telephones as
on December 31, 2009 is above 93% of the total phones.
7. The share of private sector in total telephone is about 82.33%.
8. Overall tele-density has reached around 47.88%. Urban tele-density crossed 100%
mark whereas rural tele-density is at 21.19% which is also steadily increasing.
9. Broadband connections increased to 7.98 million by December 31, 2009.

The bulk of the growth going forward in India is replacement-led, where consumers come
back for more. In India, consumers tend to change their phones faster than in most other
places. And whenever they change their phone, 60% are willing to pay a higher price. And
Nokia leads by a mile as obvious from the following table no.-1. Enamored of Nokia's
success in the Indian market, Harvard University invited Nokia India to talk on 'How Nokia
cracked open the Indian market?'

Table No.–1: Showing Leading Mobile Handset Cos.’ Market Share in India9

S. Name of Mobile Handset Market Share (2006)

No. manufacturing Companies (In Percentage)
1. Nokia 78.80
2. Samsung 06.40
3. Motorola 04.60
4. Sony Ericsson 05.10
5. LG 02.50
6. Rest of the Companies 02.60

There are, however, over twenty one mobile handsets manufacturing companies operating
today in India as shown in the following chart no. 2.

Chart No. – 2: Showing Mobile Handsets manufacturing Companies in India

S. No. Company S. No. Company S. No. Company S. No. Company

1. Alcatel Ice3 7. Karbonn 12. Micromax 17. Nokia
2. Apple 8. LG Mobile 13. Maxx Mobile 18. Movil mobile
3. Aroma 9. Lemon 14. Wynncom 19. Olive Mobile
mobiles Mobile Mobile
4. Blackberry 10. Motorola 15. Onida Mobile 20. Samsung
5. HTC 11. Sony 16. Spark Mobile 21. Spice Mobile
Ericsson
6. Zen Mobile
2. NOKIA – THE COMPANY OF 19TH CENTURY

Fredrik Idestam10 founded Nokia in Finland in 1865 as a paper manufacturing company. In

1920, Finnish Rubber Works became a part of the company, and later on in 1922, Finnish
Cable Works joined them. All the three companies were merged in 1967 to form the Nokia
Group. In the late 1970s, Nokia started taking an active interest in the power and electronics
businesses and by 1987, consumer electronics became Nokia's major business. Nokia created
the NMT mobile phone standard in 1981 and launched the first NMT phone, Mobira
Cityman, in 1987. The company delivered the first GSM network to Radkilinia, a Finnish
company in 1991, and in 1992, Nokia 1011 - a precursor for all Nokia's current GSM phones
- was introduced. In the 1990s, Nokia provided GSM services to 90 operators across the
world. Another significant move of the company during this period was the divestment of its
non-core operations like IT. The company focused on two core businesses - mobile phones
and telecommunications networks. Between 1992 and 1996, the company exited from the
rubber and cable businesses as well.

Nokia’s strategic intent is to strive for leadership in the most attractive global
communications segments through speed in anticipating and fulfilling evolving customer
needs, quality in products and processes, as well as openness with people and to new ideas
and solutions. Based on its resources including technological know-how, market position and
continuous building of competencies, Nokia is well positioned to achieve its future goals.
Nokia is the world’s largest mobile phone manufacturer and one of the leading suppliers of
digital mobile and fixed telecom networks globally. The company also supplies solutions and
products for fixed and wireless datacom and multimedia as well as PC and workstation
monitors.

Nokia entered the Indian market10 in 1994. The first ever GSM call in India was made on a
Nokia 2110 mobile phone on its own network in 1995. When Nokia entered India, the
telecom policies were not conducive to the growth of the mobile phone industry. The tariffs
levied on importing mobile phones were as high as 27%, usage charges were at Rs.16 per
minute and, at these high rates, consumers did not take to mobile phones. Nokia also had to
face tough competition from other powerful global players like Motorola, Sony, Siemens and
Ericsson. Nokia was quick to learn from its mistakes and adopted strategies to regain its lost
market share. Globally, during the first quarter of 2005, the company's sales reached 7.4
billion Euros, with the company selling 54 million phones during the period. In India, Nokia
continued its leadership in GSM with a market share of 74% in March 2005. Nokia also
surpassed Samsung in color mobiles in the GSM segment, recording a share of 55% in the
same month.

Nokia reorganized itself at the global level in 2004. At this point, a multimedia division was
formed. The division's Indian operations concentrated on promoting the concept of high-end
telephones in smaller towns while going in for higher volumes in larger cities. The marketing
divisions of the company concentrated on making distributors sell high-end products in small
towns. Though, the distributors were skeptical to start with, by the end of 2004, the process
was streamlined and the results started to show...

The mobile phones industry in India is now driven by voice, multimedia and mobile services
for organizations. The tele-density in India has increased to 18.2% by last year i.e. 2009 itself
with mobile subscription rising to 148.77 million by that time. In many instances, the cell
phone has become the only basic telephone link of a household/enterprise in India, rather
than a landline phone. It was turning out to be more economical and efficient than fixed line
telephones. So, there was great scope for further expansion with reduction in the cost of
ownership.

3. THE SUCCESS STORY OF NOKIA

By most accounts, India is among the world's fastest-growing markets for mobile phones.
The country5 adds 6 million to 7 million more each month to its existing 170 million
subscribers. China, in contrast, adds 5 million subscribers, and the U.S. 2 million subscribers
a month. Recognizing this potential, several global telecom giants jumped into the fray when
the Indian government first opened up the country's telecom market to private enterprise in
1994. Among them, one company -- Finland-based Nokia -- forged ahead of rivals and today
commands a 58% market share for mobile phones (also called "handsets"). In specific
segments, such as GSM telephony, Nokia's market share in India is as high as 70%. (GSM,
which stands for Global System for Mobile, is the world's most popular standard for mobile
communications.)4 Nokia took the lead in the Indian mobile phone market, ahead of
companies such as Ericsson, Motorola, LG and Samsung. According to company executives
and industry experts, Nokia's strategy11 combined focusing on the mobile phone market,
establishing crucial distribution partnerships, making early investments in manufacturing and
brand-building, and developing innovative product features such as mobile phones that could
double as flashlights. Nokia is a key cog in India's wireless value chain, and it has used India
as its emerging market lab.

In today’s competitive world putting the customer at the heart of the operation is strategically
important. Whilst some organizations in certain industries may follow anything other than the
market orientation concept, those that follow the market orientation8, societal marketing8 and
holistic marketing concepts8 have a greater chance of being successful. The present study
traces the marketing orientations as applied by Nokia in India and as described below.

3.1 Consumers’ Understanding & Product Assortment Strategy

Fundamental consumer differences exist between India and other countries. A cell phone is a
huge style icon for the Indian masses, 62% of Indians buy a cell phone because of its looks.
That is something that is not true anywhere else in the world. It's as huge a style statement as
one’s watch, pen, cufflinks or bag. Second, it is a safety product for women in small towns,
because with a cell phone one is in touch all the time, one is accessible. Next, it is a huge
productivity vehicle. When somebody calls, one does not need to take one’s bike out or car
out. He makes a phone call and it's over. It is also a driver of a lot of economic activity. Lots
of people write their mobile phone numbers on the walls - a plumber, an artisan, a carpenter,
a tailor. The whole service sector has gotten a huge lift, thanks to this. This has killed the
visiting card business. It is also the ultimate entertainment device. One has music on it now,
in terms of radio and stored music. The day is not far when one can see movie clips and TV.
The cell phone now is bank - a full branch of the bank. This is a passbook plus bank rolled
into one. It can be the payment system. It is used for navigation, where cell phones could be
used to provide maps of an area where the user is based. Such services keep Nokia going and
growing in India.

3.2 Product Strategy

The first point of entry into the customer's mind is through the product. According to the
February 2006 report by ORG-Gfk, 57 per cent of the total handset sales in the top 35 cities
were color screen mobile phones. That's a significant change. In October 2004, color screen
phones accounted for just 25 per cent of sales. But a dash of color is not enough. Roughly
one-fourth of the color screen phones that are sold also have cameras. A study by handset
manufacturer BenQ in 2005 confirmed that customers expect their mobiles to be more than
just communication devices. BenQ found that men were keen on camera phones, while
women preferred music on the phone. In the cities where the market is maturing, buyers are
looking at more sophisticated mobile phones, such as Nokia's E-series phones (which serve
business users) and the N-series (which have multimedia features).This focus played a key
role in the Nokia's growth in India. Looking at the mobile phone landscape in 1995, anybody
could have succeeded if they had done the same things as Nokia did but all the other
companies had something else to focus on, some other business. Nokia was completely
focused on mobile phones, others had consumer electronics, home appliances, etc. Nokia's
focus was not just on handsets, of course. The mobile infrastructure business then part of
Nokia India -- was equally important. But, by April 1, 2007, Nokia's joint venture with
Siemens for mobile infrastructure became an independent entity. Thus, Nokia India became
even more sharply focused. The Nokia story in India has not been about grafting a model that
has worked abroad. In fact some of its models of the handsets, not the strategies are unique to
India. It would probably be inconceivable to mobile phone users in the U.S. or Europe that
their mobile phones should incorporate a flashlight, or torch. But in India where large
numbers of the rural population do not have electricity, and power cuts are commonplace
even in the cities -- having a torch built into a mobile phone is a distinct and tangible benefit.
The Nokia 1100, the first made-for-India phone, has been a runaway success. Manufactured
at Chennai, it is also being exported. The 1100 incorporates a torch, an alarm clock and a
radio. Innovation is something which consumers reward in this market. Similar plans are in
the works at Nokia's three India R&D labs, which employ 700 people. For obvious reasons,
most of the activity is under wraps. Nokia is, however, willing to talk about the "shared"
phone. This is, again, something that mobile phone users in affluent countries might find
puzzling, but the concept is simple. For reasons of affordability, in rural areas a phone may
be shared by several people. The models being launched to cater to this need will have
separate address books, individual billings and more. Will it work? People initially doubted
the torch phone, too, but it became a popular product. Nokia believed in innovation more than
any other brand and hence it forged ahead of other brands.

3.3 Pricing Strategy

Nokia today sells 38 models in India. Prices of mobile phones go only one way - down.
That’s not true. The entry of Vertu, a top-of-the-line brand that's owned by Nokia, launched
in 2004, straddles the price point of $ 0.0049 million all the way up to $ 0.7 million. Even
other manufacturers agree that pricing is a key part of their strategy. Nokia introduced phones
at all price points, right from the mass market entry-level phones to the mid-market color and
camera phones and also the high-end exclusive phones. Nokia empowered the consumer in
that it offered a choice of more than one phone at every price point. However, it did adopt an
aggressive pricing strategy to fight the grey market, successfully. Initially the grey market
accounted for 80 per cent of the mobile phone sales due to a huge price differential between
the legally imported and the grey market phones. Even as the government slashed duties to
reduce the scope of arbitrage, Nokia and other handset players too reduced their prices to
induce the consumer to buy a phone from the authorized phone shops. Today, the grey
market comprises less than 20 per cent of the total handset market. Further Nokia used value
pricing strategy for its handset model Nokia E 63 Mobile whereby it attempted to win loyal
customers by charging a fairly low price for a high quality offering. This handset priced at Rs.
11,260/- offers a large number of high end applications like: Web-Browsing, Email, Data
Network, GPRS, GPS and Navigation and lots of other facilities apart from serving the basic
mobile functions. At the same time it has a sleek body and robust structure. Nokia also
practiced product form pricing strategy pricing different versions of the same product differently.
For instance, Nokia-5000 is priced at Rs. 4,300/-. Whereas Nokia-7210C-Supernova priced at
Rs. 4,800/- offers almost the same features. The reason for difference in
pricing is due to the sleek structure of Nokia-7210C.
3.4 Distribution Strategy
One may find a mobile in every hand, at least in the big cities. But penetration in India is still
very low - 6 per cent compared to 50-60 per cent in Singapore. Which is why handset
manufacturers are looking at different ways to increase distribution? Nokia entered into tie-
ups with coffee chains and multiplex owners to display its models at their locations. Thus
when it comes to distribution, Nokia's lead is clear. Today, India has some 95,000 outlets that
sell mobile phones. In 50,000 of them -- and that's a conservative estimate only one brand is
available, Nokia. Nokia started distributing its phones through a partnership with HCL
(formerly Hindustan Computers Ltd.), which had already built an extensive network for its
own products. Recently, Nokia decided to supplement that with its own distribution efforts.
In rural India -- which constitutes 70% of the population affordability is an issue. So there is a
different range for this constituency. The price points sometimes dictate the type of outlet. As
the operator footprint expands into different markets, all kinds of retail outlets get into selling
mobile phones and airtime connections. People who have been selling consumer electronics,
STD booth owners and even cloth merchants get into this business. A stationery store stocks
mobiles in a corner, a mom-and-pop grocery store moves beyond rice and lentils. Then there
are people with existing businesses who decide to set up a separate shop only for mobile
phones, And why do they feel the need to set up a different outlet? In this business, customer
engagement … requires a completely different approach. Even the retail outlets realize this
and have started separating the two businesses. In the mature urban markets, such as the
metros and Tier I towns where mobility has been around for a few years, customer
expectations are more evolved, and are continuously evolving. Nokia provided its people here
with relevant competency and skills sets. Nokia began to set up concept stores - seven so far -
in Indian cities. At these concept stores Nokia have tried to bring to life all the experiences
that it offered at Nokia experiential zones across the world.

3.5 Production Strategy

Even as it worked on its distribution, Nokia brought handset manufacturing closer home with
launch of its high profile $150 million handset manufacturing facility at Chennai in Tamil
Nadu in 2005. The total production at this unit has crossed 25 million handsets. Some 30% of
its production is being exported to neighboring countries.

3.6 Advertising Strategy

With product, price and distribution in place, companies need to shore up their advertising.
Nokia focused on product-specific, rather than brand-building, advertisements with full
conviction that its products were its brand ambassadors. In its marketing endeavors, Nokia
ensured that its advertising ensured its phones stood out from the clutter of mobile phone
advertising. Its advertising was aimed at making communication relevant to strengthen
consumer-connect with the brand. For instance, the “Made For India” advertisement for the
Nokia 1100 targeted at the entry-level phone user - the low end consumer, giving the implicit
message about a phone still working at the end of the long, hot, dusty, journey. Nokia’s
advertisement dwelt on the human angle of mobile technology. The “Har Jeb Mein Rang”
(color in every pocket) advertisement was created keeping in mind a market aspiring to go for
color displays. Nokia undertook an advertisement campaign to educate people about the
advantages of going legit. Thus in all its advertisement strategies Nokia focused on
consumer-connect with the brand. Its hardsell campaign showing the Hindi text on a display
is another example to connect with the general consumer.

3.7 Investment Strategy

Being ahead of the curve was another component of Nokia's strategy. It invested before
everybody else in the brand, in people, in distribution. Nokia invested in each vertical of the
handset ecosystem manufacturing, distribution and design R&D. Nokia invested more than
$1 billion in India so far. The Nokia India had revenues of more than $3.5 billion in 2006,
which meant there was also money to be reinvested. Investment in people is difficult to
judge. Every company claims to have the best talent in the business.

3.8 Promotion Strategy

Another crucial aspect of Nokia's investment strategy focused on building its brand. Here, the
company ran into a problem. The Nokia range available in India extends from $37 at the
lower end to $1,125 at the high end. Marketing theory says a brand cannot be all things to all
people. This is the reason that Hindustan Unilever, with quality built around its brand,
refused to match Nirma, which came out with a cheap detergent. This is also why Eveready,
the battery manufacturer, refused to lower prices when faced with a Chinese challenger in the
dry cell market. But Nokia has a problem promoting other brands under its corporate
umbrella. Unlike the FMCG (fast-moving consumer goods) market where the product
lifecycle is at least 10 and sometimes 50-100 years models have a lifespan of 15-24 months
here, With such a lifecycle, promoting various models meant watching money go down the
drain in a couple of years. Instead, Nokia is promoting platforms, music, for instance. With
this approach, one model can replace another while the branding remains the same, or is
extended slightly with the E series and N series. Nokia has done well to focus on the 'mother'
brand rather than on 'another' brand, Nokia understood the Indian market by straddling all
segments - the high, the middle and the low end. The company created a ladder for
consumers to climb from the low end to the middle end to the high end, while being fully
assured that they will be with the mother brand Nokia. Nokia brand is viewed in terms of the
"REAPS" model, which takes into account five needs - rational, emotional, aspirational,
physical and spiritual - of the Indian consumer. Nokia as a brand has been able to address all
the five needs to various degrees at various stages, The rational need of quality versus price
has been met across price segments with options. The emotional need of being able to keep in
touch with near and dear ones during times of joy and sorrow is being adequately fulfilled.
The aspirational need with the new models and features and the look-good approach has
helped the brand become a sought-after, must-have brand. The physical need has been taken
care of through size and comfort. And, finally, the spiritual need has been met through local
languages and people -whether they are 18 or 80 - being able to greet one another via SMS
during religious festivals.

4. DISCUSSIONS

Many MNCs ignored India in 1995 because of a pathetic 2 per cent telephone penetration, but
it was Nokia which saw the potential. So, in 2002, when the market took off, Nokia was
ready. Within four years of the start of the telecom boom, the $54.15-billion, Nokia had a
whopping 60 per cent share of the Indian market. At over $3.6 billion, it is by far India’s
largest MNC. The Indian mobile communications industry grew slowly in the first few years,
but Nokia never lost its belief in the market. Its efforts in India have really come to fruition
over the past few years, during which time it has seen phenomenal market growth. Towards
the end of 2006, there were more than 6 million new mobile subscribers signing up each
month more than the entire population of Finland! Despite this growth, mobile penetration in
India is still less than 15 per cent, so Nokia feels privileged that it really is helping to connect
people.

Nokia opened its first office in India in 1995 with very few people. By 2004, it had grown to
591 employees, by 2005 to 1,609, and by the end of last year i.e. 2009 it had opened a
production facility in Chennai and employed a total of 6,494 people. Opening the Chennai
facility was a significant milestone for Nokia, because while previously it had software R&D,
sales and marketing activities in India, this was the first time it had entered the hardware
market. Nokia understands that India has a good future in manufacturing, too, because of its
skilled workforce. Thus in about fifteen years time since the introduction of an industry,
many erstwhile industries like radio industry, television industry etc. saw its market pioneer
move from production concept of marketing to societal marketing concept in order to sustain
in the market and yet some of the giant players were wiped out of the market, Nokia are
consolidating its approach according to production concept of marketing. It did not tread the
beaten path of the industry by changing its marketing approach from the tradition production
concept to societal concept. Rather it stuck at the ultimate concept of holistic marketing and
implemented it thoroughly continuing even today after fifteen long years of life of the mobile
market in India.

An important part of Nokia’s strategy12 in India is the recognition that the market is not
defined by its size alone. Many people see India only as a low-cost phone market, but the
reality is very different. It is actually quite a diverse market with all possible consumer
segments represented. This is well illustrated by the fact that the high-end Nokia N-series
multimedia devices have become very popular, and last year India was, in fact, the fourth
largest market for these products of Nokia. For Nokia, the mobility industry is also about
bringing positive change and becoming a part of the society in which it works. In 2006,
Nokia commissioned The Mobile Development Report, which analyzed the mobile phone
usage among urban and rural users. The findings have given it a new understanding of
products, protocols and services that could be designed to enhance the lives of users. It has
been a great pleasure for Nokia to work with local organizations in India on this.

Every market is unique. India does have similarities with high-growth markets such as China
and some parts of the Middle East, Africa or Latin America, but it is also very much its own
market with its own unique characteristics. In developed economies, mobile telephony started
as a complementary service. But in high-growth markets such as India, many people make
their first call on a mobile device and even access the Internet for the first time on a phone.

Even if Nokia’s roots are in Finnish soil, during the decades that Nokia has become a truly
global company it has naturally adopted behaviors from many other countries. It adopted the
Indian customs with which it traded. This comes through in Nokia’s business culture and in
the way it operates in India. Nokia products are made for Indian customers. India is currently
Nokia’s third largest market in terms of net sales, and it is expected that it will soon be its
second largest market after China. Nokia continues to see new opportunities in mobility and
the Internet and, in turn, it has contributed significantly to the economic growth of India and
the quality of life of its citizens.
5. CONCLUSIONS

The Indian market is huge and diverse. Rural India especially brings a lot of unexploited
opportunities along with its own set of challenges. The mobile communications sector has
been one of the first to tap this potential and cater to its needs. Mobile phones have come a
long way in connecting rural India where wired connections are still a dream. Nokia's success
can definitely be attributed to its well-thought-out strategy and innovative products specific to
the Indian market. Nokia made products for India. Through investment in manufacturing,
building the brand with the power of focus and distribution edge Nokia captured expanding
Indian market. Nokia’s business strategy, management style and its marketing savvy have
earned it the respect of its peers. In 2004, Nokia was chosen as 'the most respected consumer
durables company' in India by the weekly magazine Business World. Its strengths are
extensive product range constituting large portfolio of phones, anticipating consumer trends
early,’ amazing branding, focused marketing exercise, aggressive price ranges, distribution
strategy among others.

Nokia, however, lost its edge when GSM's rival technology, CDMA, made its entry in 2003.
That was because the Finnish major had concentrated on GSM technology and was losing
ground to CDMA handset makers which was its major weakness. With less than 25 per cent
of India having coverage is the major challenge now for Nokia. This industry's spectacular
growth in India is attracting the attention of several international brands which Nokia should
bear in its mind. Another challenge that is to appear before Nokia is the fact that in order to
remain competitive, this industry could see several mergers and acquisitions, roll out
obligation and substantiate equity holding in more than one Telecom Company coupled with
enormous opportunities emerging for the low cost handset manufacturers along with low
tariffs, infrastructure development for mobile communication.

Nokia’s phenomenal success and its continuous galloping run in the Indian market leaves
many issues to be pondered over by both the practicing managers and the students.

How could it reach those heights?

Nokia’s growth rate was so visible, yet why was Nokia model not copied by other makes?
Why was there no war on prices (so familiar in other brands in Indian market)?
Does Nokia have any core competencies? Were these exploited by Nokia?

6. REFERENCES

1. Cellular Operators Association of India, N. Delhi

2. Gillbreath, Bob (2010): The Next Evolution of Marketing – Connect with your
Customers by Marketing with Meaning, McGraw-Hill Publications, New York.
3. Homburg, Kuesler and Herley (2008): Marketing Management – A 21st Century
Perspective, McGraw-Hill Publications, New York.
4. How Did Nokia Succeed in the Indian Mobile Market, While Its Rivals Got Hung Up?
http://knowledge.wharton.upenn.edu/india/article.cfm?articleid=4220
5. http://www.dot.gov.in/annualreport/2010/final.pdf 2209-2010 annual report
6. India will soon be our second largest market after China, An interview published in
Business World, Paragon Condominium Association, Mumbai
7. India ready for luxury mobile phones?
http://in.rediff.com/money/2006/mar/11spec1.htm
 8. Kotler, P., Keller, Kevin L., Koshy, Abraham and Jha, Mithileshwar (2009):
Marketing Management – A South Asian Perspective, Pearson Education, N. Delhi
9. Marcus, Alfred A. (2005): Management Strategy – Achieving Sustained Competitive
Advantage, Sage Publications, N. Delhi
10. Nokia India, www.nokia.co.in
11. Nokia still leads in India, but. . .,
http://www.rediff.com/money/2006/may/02spec.htm?invitekey=adb4ff2b797a3b011d
67aacff0d81a70
12. Nokia's marketing strategy: A need for change,
http://www.merinews.com/article/nokias-marketing-strategy-a-need-for-
change/124478.shtml
13. Xavier, M. J. (1999): Strategic Marketing – A Guide for developing Sustainable
Competitive Advantage, Sage Publications, N. Delhi

Biographical Note of Authors:

H. M. Jha “Bidyarthi”, Ph.D., (born in 1957) is Professor and Head, Department of

Business Administration and Research, Shri Sant Gajanan Maharaj College of Engineering,
Shegaon, Maharashtra, India. His area of research is strategic management, e-governance,
Indian management etc. A number of sponsored research projects and doctoral researches
have been successfully completed under his guidance. He may be reached at
hmjhabidyarthi@ssgmce.ac.in, hmjhabidyarthi@rediffmail.com .

Ashish K. Srivastava, Ph.D, is Associate Professor in the Institute of Management, Pt.

Ravishankar Shukla University, Raipur, Chattisgarh, India. He has successfully guided a
number of doctoral researches under him. He may be reached at ashish_1@rediffmail.com

P. V. Bokad, Ph.D., is Asst. Professor in the Department of Business Administration and

Research, Shri Sant Gajanan Maharaj College of Engineering, Shegaon, Maharashtra, India.
He teaches subjects from marketing management area at the post-graduate level. He may be
reached at bokadpv@gmail.com .

L. B. Deshmukh, (B.E., M.B.A.) is lecturer in the Department of Business Administration

and Research, Shri Sant Gajanan Maharaj College of Engineering, Shegaon, Maharashtra,
India. He teaches subjects from marketing management area at the post-graduate level. He
may be reached at laxmikantd@gmail.com .

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