India Market Size

India Market Size has enormous potential to become a major global force to reckon with the credit for having a huge market size in India is largely attributed to the fact that the India is the second most populated country in the world. Owing to the liberal government policies, the India Market Size has increased of late as it has witnessed the entry of new players to the Indian market scene. It is very difficult to gauge the full extent of India Market Size due to the extremely heterogeneous nature of the various elements within the country. The Indian market size can be broadly classified into four components:

• Labor market
• Money Market
• Commodity Market
• Capital Market

The Labor Market in India is among one of the cheapest in the world. Besides, there are a large number of English knowing technically qualified workforce in the country. This increases the India Market Size vastly and also makes India one of the favorite destinations for overseas companies to set up branches. The labor market consists of workforce in the entire three sectors primary, secondary and tertiary sector.

The Money Market in India deals with all the aspects related to the lending and borrowing of funds. Since the India market size is huge, performance in the country's money market depends on a variety of factors. The money market is closely connected to the foreign exchange market.

The Commodity Market comprises of exchange of goods that is estimated in terms of the domestic currency. The wholesale market and the retail market are important components of the commodity market.

Capital Market deals with all the assets of the country. Here both the government and public companies can raise short term and long term funds, depending on their requirements. The bond market and the share market come under the capital market.

Demand for consumer goods (figures in '000)

	1995-96	2001-02	2005-06	2009-10 (Estimated)
Cars	276	788	1560	3466
Motorcycles	760	2599	4663	8369
CTV Regular	1785	4580	6295	9957
Refrigerators	1850	3006	4335	6774
White Goods	3437	6024	8727	13149

An increase in the demand for consumer goods means that the production requirement naturally increases. The rapid rise in the income patters of the population in India has ensured that the demand for consumer good increased at an even faster pace. Today, the numbers of people who own consumer goods are far larger than they were a decade ago. India market size has witnessed tremendous change over the last few years due to this.

India Market

A market is described as a platform where buyers and sellers are allowed to trade, exchange goods, services, and information. These involvements of the goods and the parties to trade simplify the demand and supply concepts and are thus the fundamentals of an economy. Any type of trade can take place in a market. The two major dependant factors by which a market can operate are buyers and sellers. It is in an India market place that the physical meeting of the buyers and sellers take place such that they can trade. Nobody can deny the importance of physical India market places, but still there are virtual marketplaces mainly supported by IT networks such as the internet.

Some India markets are really very competitive - with a large number of players (vendors) selling the same kind of products or services. On the other hand, few of the markets have very low or no competition at all (with a single player in the market). It depends on the number of buyers and sellers in the market that how much will be the price of the good or service that is sold in the market. This determines the law of demand and supply in the market.

In an India market place, where there is more number of sellers than the buyers, the supply is bound to bring down the prices. On the other hand, if there are more buyers than sellers in a market place, the reciprocative action would take place - demand pushing up prices.

Types of India Market -

Free Markets - Usually free markets are operational under the 'laissez-faire' conditions - where there is no government intervention. A free market may get distorted if there exists a monopolistic situation (seller controlling major portion of the supply) or a monopsonistic situation (a buyer having power on majority of the demand). In case of these distortions, the government or business bodies make an entry to ensure that the free markets operate smoothly.

Currency Markets - Currency markets are among the largest traded markets in the globe, on a continual basis. Money flows are continuous around the globe - governments, banks, investors and consumers - all of them are involved in buying and selling currency round the clock. That is the velocity of money is huge with so many constantly changing hands.

Stock Markets - Stock markets seem to be the backbone of any economy - and of late they have become the most complex structure allowing investors the scope of buying and selling shares in multitude companies. Majority of the Indian stock markets are operating on an electronic network, with a physical location being maintained for buyers separately. This is the place where the parties involved can interact with each other directly.

Types of Consumer India Markets -

Previously, India Markets originated from the center of villages and towns, where there was a sale or barter of farm produce, clothing and tools and various other products. Later on these street markets went on to become consumer-oriented markets like the specialist markets, shopping centers, supermarkets.

1.Commodity Markets - In India, with high oil and food prices, the commodity markets have again gathered all the attention. The prices of the essential commodities steer the economy to a desired level. Commodity markets deal in energy (oil, gas, coal, and biodiesel), soft commodities and grains (wheat, oat, corn, rice, soya beans, coffee, cocoa, sugar, cotton, frozen orange juice, etc), meat, and financial commodities like bonds.

2.Capital Goods & Industrial Markets - India capital goods market help businesses to buy durable goods that can be used in industrial and manufacturing methods. There are usually wholesale trades that take place with bulk goods being transacted at very cheap prices.

Importance of India market -

Markets in India after the liberalization era have been leveraged to the extent that they are well protected by legal procedures and boasts of efficient administrators. The government has always been proactive in its strategies to make the future of India market lucrative and attractive. India market has witnessed outstanding growth over past few years. The liberal and transparent financial policies have steered the economy towards free flow of FII and that is why India Market has achieved a sound place in the international arena.

The returns on investments in the India market have been substantially moderate from all the listed stocks. Public Private Partnership (PPP) is the new trend in the Indian marketplace, with red tape and bribes being shed off to quite an extent. The few public enterprises like IOC, ONGC, BHEL, NTPC, SAIL, MTNL, BPCL, HPCL and GAIL, SBI, LIC etc are giving the private players a run for their money. Whereas at the same time, private players like Reliance Industries Limited, Infosys, Tata, Birla Corporation, Jet Airways, Ranbaxy, Biocon, Bajaj Auto, ICICI have been performing exponentially in all the financial years.

Boutique Hotels Market Potential has High Ceiling

There is an overwhelming interest in boutique hotels these days. Hotel experts have been looking closely on the development of this chic boutique hotels, which are known to be hotels with 100 or less rooms. With the interest on investors for it, it has come to our attention that the next few years we will see more of this boutique hotels, may it overseas or in state.

It has reported that in December a known originator of the said concept, Ian Schrager announced that 2 new brands as sample of the lifestyle hotels/boutique hotels which are in the works. Virgin Hotels will follow up with their own as they plan to create a 4 star boutique of their own, Richard Branson’s Virgin Group announced. I can go on and on with it as more recently, the Wyndham Hotel
Group signed an agreement with Chatwal Hotels and Resorts to franchise and manages Chatwal’s Night and Dream boutique brands, and Sonesta International Hotels. Also, there is Modo, from the former chief executive of Nylo Hotels; and new boutique spinoffs by Softel and Swire Hotels. Its popularity is really taking shape.

“Almost a third of all hotels opening in Manhattan this year would be boutique hotels and as much as 10 percent in other major urban markets. He estimated that they could account for 6 percent of all hotels in the United States, and as much as 10 percent in the largest urban markets, in 10 to 15 years.” Robert Tisch Center for Hospitality, Tourism and Sports Management at NYU said.

Henry H. Harteveldt, travel analyst for Forrester Research said that one reason for growth is the reaction of travellers themselves. He said that “Everybody pays attention to design,” and added. “People like things a little bit different, offbeat. And they make someone who may have a rather mundane life feel hip.”

One thing that is really good for boutique hotel owners is they do not have to comply with the brand standards. Thus, developers can more easily convert an existing structure like an office building into a hotel. Top destinations like New York, Miami, Los Angeles and Chicago are really seeing potential on this so called boutique hotels as more and more developers are looking to get their hands on them.

DTH bringing the second wireless revolution in India

Launched in 2003, DTH revitalised India’s journey to media digitisation. Being wireless in nature, DTH has truly brought the power of affordable home entertainment to rural households.

2010 has proved to be a remarkable year for the DTH industry in India. It was an action packed year that saw the market expanding to six private players, acting as the catalyst in speeding up India’s journey to digitalisation.

The year saw many innovative interventions in the area of both hardware and interactive services by players, with festive occasions and sporting events being the major inflection points for the industry. The industry added 10 million customers in FY 2009-10 taking its tally to over 20 million, thereby adding as many as it did in its first five years, exemplifying the fact that the Indian consumer ‘wants’ to be at par with globally evolving entertainment standards. The industry is expected to add another 13-14 million customers in 2010-11.

In moving away from the industry norm of treating DTH as a mere replacement to cable, newer entrants like Airtel see a huge potential market of 100 million households that have no access to cable or terrestrial TV. This has helped expand the category and enabled affordable home entertainment on wireless to reach markets hitherto beyond reach of incumbent distribution platforms.

In growing at the phenomenal pace that it has, DTH has made India the largest buyer of set-top boxes and it’s set to soon become the largest DTH market in the world. Though the increased demand of STBs has brought down the hardware cost that forms a major chunk of operators cost, the industry is still beset with many structural challenges.

The absence of a level- playing field on content cost versus analogue cable, due rampant non-transparency / under-declaration by cable industry for years and the high incidence of taxes, make it a steep climb to profitability for DTH operators. Tax incidence of over 35 per cent is amongst the highest for any industry which plays such a critical role in fulfilling the Government agenda of reaching 'infotainment' to the remotest parts of India. In particular, entertainment tax levied by states has no logical reasoning and custom duty imposed on STBs needs to be withdrawn. Also the license fee of 10 per cent is only levied on the DTH platform, amongst all other forms of distribution - an anomaly that needs to be corrected soon.

At present wholesale tariffs from broadcasters, cost of all channels put together, comes to nearly Rs 14 billion for cable operators and 50 per cent of that is levied on DTH operators, while the Indian customer is willing to pay at best between Rs 150-250. It seems that the incumbent cable industry has taken recourse to under-declaration to correct this anomaly of high content cost. DTH though being a completely transparent addressable system has no such recourse.

DTH today is less then 20 per cent of the total C&S households in India, but contributes over 50 per cent of broadcasters subscription revenue, thereby ending up subsidising the incumbent analogue cable industry.

We believe that DTH has the potential to repeat the success story of telecom, where all the stakeholders - consumers, broadcasters, operators and government – will gain immensely. As DTH is already enabling many in rural India buy their first TV, every single household of the current 240 million homes across India deserves to have a TV. Just like mobile, DTH has shown that wireless is the way to go if world class home entertainment is to go mass in India.

Apart from the width of availability of linear, regional content, DTH for many has become the means to catch up with latest movie releases that otherwise would probably have taken months or some quarters to be released beyond the top few towns. This will go a long way in helping fight piracy and protect the interests of the rightful producers of content.

Advertising too has become a very rewarding, effective option on DTH. It furnishes better return on investment for advertisers by paving the way for authentic measurement of viewership compared to myriad forms of media. Also, it renders a new vehicle for localised advertising, tapping the targeted audience in an effective way.

Being the largest integrated telco that has a presence across all screens– Mobile, PC and TV - Airtel finds itself uniquely positioned to participate in the next wave of growth for DTH-broadband hybrid models. The advent of new wireless access technologies like 3G & BWA will make it possible for customers to experience the true power of two-way interactivity even on DTH. With movies on pay-per-view (PPV) platforms already gaining growing acceptance and innovative solutions by Airtel such as its mobile recording & mobile self care feature that make convergence of screens a reality, superior viewing experience through better picture quality and Dolby digital sound output will redefine customer’s expectation out of the idiot box in a big way.

With customers clearly opting for the newer, more advanced platforms like MPEG4 DVBS 2, HD, the industry is looking forward to start the New Year in a positive note. The need to be entertained coupled with diversity of broadcast channels, gaming & interactive services will be big growth drivers for DTH in 2011.

Clearly, technological superiority and quality of customer service have emerged as the new differentiators for the industry and the DTH platform is leading the way in helping India digitalise faster.

How black money can transform India

Intermittent talks about huge sums of money parked by Indian nationals in foreign tax havens were doing the rounds ever since a report attributed to Swiss Banking Association started doing the rounds in 2006. The Wikileaks disclosures of Julian Assange, however, provided the immediate context for Anna Hazare to step in and rally the civil society against graft.

The latest public figure to join the anti-graft bandwagon, of course, has been Baba Ramdev who landed in Delhi in a charter aircraft to launch a Satyagraha movement. Baba's fast has created quite a stir. He coerced the UPA government into giving written assurances about the latter's commitment to bring black money back into the country and to clamp down on corruption.

However, in spite of getting that assurance, Baba reneged on his pledge to withdraw the agitation. It saw the government coming down hard on him and his followers and break up the fast in a midnight clampdown. Rights activists have rightly pointed out the high-handed manner in which the government dealt with Baba and his fasting followers. They have also justifiably criticised imposition of Article 144 at the Ramlila Maidan as Baba's agitation was completely peaceful and never threatened the law and order situation.

Indians, cutting across caste, class, religion and social standing, are unitedly voicing a demand for the black money to be brought back. But how would the money be used in case the UPA government, reeling under multiple exposes of scams and financial irregularities, balks under popular pressure and manages to bring it back?

At ibnlive, we discussed this and the following is our suggestion. However, our maths is based on recovery of the money from Switzerland alone as no concrete figures are available for Indian money parked in other places like Liechenstein, Luxembourg, Cayman Islands, Seychelles, Mauritius, Macau, etc.

According to several economists and financial experts, bank deposits in the territory of Switzerland by nationals of India total upwards of $1.4 billion. That is close to the nominal GDP of India today. IT kind of gives credence to the widely held belief that $1.456 trillion of Indian money is parked in Swiss bank vaults.

India, as of December 2010, had external debt amounting to $ 237 billion, according to the CIA World Factbook numbers.

First step should be to pay this debt off. Assuming that with interest, the figure rises to even $275 billion, the country would be left with $ 1.181 trillion after paying off all its foreign debt.

A Goldman Sachs study in 2010 has reported that India would need to invest $1 trillion in economic and social infrastructure to sustain an 8 to 9 per cent growth momentum and to overcome its problems. However, in the report, the investment banker clearly mentions that this $1 trillion includes government funding, private enterprise as well as foreign investment.

The suggestions of the report have been corroborated by Rahul Saraogi, managing director at Atyant Capital in a 2011 interview with Value Investing Letter.

Infrastructure in India, unlike in the case of China, will be built only using a public-private partnership model. In certain sectors like telecom, airports and power, the model has been successfully working. In case of developments of ports, roads, railways and urban transportation, the models are evolving. Assuming up to 70 per cent of the funding comes from the government and the rest from other players, India would invest $ 700 billion in this sector. The bulk of the government's investment should be in water treatment, sanitation, waste management, renewable energy, health, education, urban infrastructure and allied fields.

The 8 to 9 per cent YoY (year on year) growth will ensure that the government has more than enough funds to pay for maintenance and salary of workforce needed to maintain and run the expanded services.

Now, we are left with $ 481 billion.

India is one of the hungriest nations in the world. It is ranked 67th out of 84 countries listed and ranked on the Global Hunger Index report, 2010. India accounts for 42 per cent of the world's underweight children.

Unless India ensures food security for all its people, its claim for greater role in the world will be taken with a pinch, if not a lump, of salt. In that regard, universalisation of PDS is the simplest and surest way to ensure food security.

In that regard, Dr Abhijit Sen of the Planning Commission had proposed a minimum support price-linked PDS scheme, excluding 25 per cent of the population who are not the target group. But this was shot down by C. Rangarajan, chairman of the Rangarajan Committee, who thought that streamlining the present PDS system would be enough.

Though the government has made up its mind on the proposed Food Security Bill, it is not too sure if universalisation of PDS would be a viable measure.

A study by Praveen Jha, Associate Professor at Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) and Nilachal Acharya of the Delhi-based Centre for Budget Governance and Accountability (CBGA), show that Universalisation of PDS is even possible without the help of this magic money we are talking about. Their study shows that an additional Rs 94,419 crore per annum will be required to supplement the present provisions of food subsidy which translates to roughly $21 billion.

Now taking into account inflation over the next ten years, a figure of $ 300 billion will be enough to take all Indians out of the hunger trap. With quality healthcare and social infrastructure, India can then start looking like a developed nation.

Out of the remaining $181 billion, $60 billion should go in strengthening our defence capabilities. Over and above the already-approved $100 billion procurement plan, that should give us one of the meanest fighting forces in the world.

The remaining $ 121 billion money should be used to fund higher education, cutting-edge scientific and social research institutes and exclusive scientific projects.

Undoubtedly, all this is only possible if the money is available. The Swiss Banking Association has already said that it might hand over to the Indian government a list of names of individuals who have accounts there if New Delhi so requested. However, unlike the German government, the Congress-led UPA seems to be dragging its feet.

Even Wikileaks founder Julian Assange has criticised New Delhi for giving all the wrong excuses for not acting. Political observers feel that the government is worried that names of account holders coming into the public domain might haunt the various parties that make up UPA. The grapevine has it that several prominent political leaders and their family members, apart from prominent businessmen and public figures, have money parked there.

So till the government actually swings into action, which is highly unlikely, all this is entirely in the realm of speculative fantasy. But just because our government fails to fulfil our wishes, we should not stop having them.

Apple unveils iCloud, Lion and iOS 5

Apple Inc unveiled a new storage and retrieval service, called iCloud, that gives customers access to all their music, photographs and other files across their devices.
Chief Executive Steve Jobs and his executive team also took the wraps off an upgrade to Apple's computer operating system, and new software for its iPhone and iPad mobile devices.

iCloud:

- Remotely stores music, photos and documents and syncs them with all devices including iPhone, iPad, iPod touch, Mac and personal computers
- When something new is added to one device, all of a user's devices are updated "almost instantly."
- iCloud will be available this fall.
- iTunes Match can store and sync any of a user's songs that were not bought on iTunes for USD 24.99 a year (US only)
- Features 5 Gigabytes of free storage for mail and documents.
- Apple did not announce pricing for additional storage. Purchased music, apps, books, photos do not count against storage limit.
- iCloud stores photos for up to 30 days during which users should connect devices to Wi-Fi for automatic downloads.
- Apple has three data centers to support iCloud.

Lion:
- The latest Mac OS computer operating system.
- Costs USD 29.99, available in July.
- Includes touch-screen support with multi-touch gestures, similar to iPhone and iPad.
- Allows peer-to-peer document sharing over Wi-Fi.
- On sale only through iTunes store.

iOS 5:
- The next version of iPhone, iPad operating system.
- Includes iMessaging, a rival to Research In Motion's BlackBerry messaging service.
- Allows tighter integration with Twitter.
- Allows wireless software updates, so iPhone/iPad customers do not need to own a computer.
- Available this fall.

Tourism Potential of Kerala

Kerala tourism holds tremendous potential for Kerala’s economy. Tourism has been one of the fastest growing and most dynamic Sector in Kerala providing impetus to other industries, create millions of new jobs and generate income. Kerala is multi-destination state with a variety of tourist attractions and facilities for a perfect Kerala travel.

Kerala tourism has developed Kerala holidays without endangering the environment and quality of life in Kerala. The bio- diversity, different type of forests, beaches, backwaters, hill stations and wild life in natural forest enhance Kerala’s potential to promote tourism.

Kerala backwaters have immense tourism potential and witness increase in tourist traffic from both foreign and domestic. Journey in backwaters stretch of Kerala is an unforgettable leaf of the Kerala tour itinerary. Scenic beauty accompanied with excellent Houseboat facilities, food, hazzle free and pollution free back water cruise attracts tourists irrespective of their age, sex and nationality.

Most of India’s finest beaches are in Kerala. Cleanliness, pollution free air, Ayurveda experience, Spa resorts, water sports like surfing, swimming, etc and other modern facilities are the main reasons that make Kerala beaches attractive. Every tourist visit Kerala beaches to savour its pristine beauty soaked with history and culture of Kerala.

Among all adventure activities in Kerala, trekking occupied a remarkable position.

Accessible Wildlife in Kerala helps the visitor to experience the beauty and diversity of rich wildlife. Kerala is known for its abundant elephant population.

Kerala hill stations are a favourite retreat and refreshing getaway for thousands of tourists each year due to its pleasant climate .

Kerala provide world class accommodation facilities. Kerala dining especially mouth watering traditional authentic Kerala style food lure tourists.

Kerala is not only famous for tourist attractions and natural scenery, it is known for its Kerala culture, folk dances, Kerala festivals, regional festivals and events, social functions, different activities in each of the region, and unique shopping products produced in different regions of Kerala which  increase visitor base .

Kerala is famous for performing arts like Kathakali, Kalaripayattu, Mohiniyattom and Koodiyattom having mass global audience.

Historical and heritage monuments like museums and palaces of Kerala stand testimony to the rich heritage .

Healthcare tourism is the new buzzword in Kerala. Foreign tourists come to Kerala for Ayurveda rejuvenation packages. Patient tourists come to Kerala Hospitals as we can provide cost effective world class treatment compared to counterparts.

There is no doubt that India’s most idyllic state, Kerala is today one of the most sought after destination In India.

UAE’s Pharma Market Potential

The United Arab Emirates (UAE)’s national fund for the purchase of medicines has doubled, from $40 million in 2010 to $80 million for 2011, according to Pharma Times.
The UAE Ministry of Health has contacted drugmakers to begin production of medicines to supply medical zones, hospitals and health facilities throughout the country, Health Minister Hanif Hassan Ali reported.

The UAE will also be using a fully-integrated health information system, WAREED, a computer records system. WAREED is the largest public health care initiative in the Middle East and aims to revolutionize health care by enabling medical staff to access medical records more quickly and conveniently. Patient safety will be improved as medication errors will be less likely, says the Ministry.

With annual growth significantly increasing, the UAE is a profitable pharmaceutical market in the Middle East; sales in the UAE are expected to increase by an average of 17% a year.  This growth rate is because of many factors including the UAE's growing population, liberal trade policies and international health care standards, according to Pharma Times.

Indian consumers to buy 12 mn smartphones in 2011

With the India mobile handsets market expected to grow 25% by volume in 2011 to 210 million units over 2010 sales of 167 million, anaysts expects the smartphone market to carve out an even more dramatic growth among Indian users.

 

The sale of nearly 12 million smartphones expected in 2011 represents a near 100% growth over sales of smartphones in 2010. The proportion of smartphones as a percentage of total mobile handset shipments in the Indian market is expected to grow from 3.6% of 167 million total units in CY 2010 to 5.7% of an estimated 210 million units in CY 2011

 

Smartphones are mobile devices with evolved operating systems that include Symbian Series 60, Android OS, iPhone OS, Blackberry OS, Linux among others. In addition to voice capability these devices have the ability to download and run applications, and store user data beyond their required personal information management capabilities.

 

These devices are able to synchronise with a desktop or laptop computer. Smartphones offer users PC-like functionality. These phones have eliminated the need to carry a separate PDA (Personal Digital Assistant) and a mobile phone. Examples of present-day smartphones include Apple iPhone, Motorola Milestone, HTC Desire, Samsung Galaxy Spica, Blackberry Curve etc.

 

Users can browse the Internet, check mail, blog, share photographs, update their status on social networking sites, play games, download applications with their smartphones. Till the end of 2010, a top-end smartphone used to be equipped with a 1GHz processor. Starting 2011, with the use of dual core processors in smartphones, these devices have become more powerful as compared to their predecessors. CyberMedia Research telecom anlysts label these smartphones as the 'second wave' of smartphones as they become capable of performing multiple functions. Going forward these devices will become as powerful as present day laptops.

 

Smartphones like Motorola Atrix 4G, LG Optimus X2 use dual core processors. A dual core processor is a combination of two 1 GHz processors, which can be used in parallel giving more power and speed to the device. Though these processors enable more power, but a smartphone’s overall performance still depends on the integration of its software with its hardware. For example, how closely the phone’s software and applications can interact with its hardware taking out the maximum advantage of hardware abilities of the phone. The best example is Apple iPhone 4, which runs on a single core processor but is able to take full advantage of its hardware abilities.

 

Some of the applications where multi-core processor- based smartphones can provide a boost to usage are Gaming, Autostereoscopic 3D enabled handsets, video streaming, HD (high definition) video recording and playback, video conferencing, HDMI user interface. Autostereoscopic technique is a method of displaying images with perception of 3D depth without requiring the viewer to wear any glasses. This activity needs extra power, which the new generation of smartphones can deliver.

 

Dual core smartphones

The dual core smartphones will also allow users to play advanced games, which need more power. Users will be able to enjoy games or videos on a bigger screen by connecting the smartphone output to an HDTV through HDMI ports. Again, the increased power of a new generation smartphone will prove helpful in running HDMI applications.

 

Dual-core processors will enable full HD video playback and recording at 1080p resolution, which is a big leap forward from the 720p video playback currently available in top present day smartphone models. Beyond full HD support, dual-core processors would enable smartphones to run more demanding applications like videoconferencing and video streaming. These smartphones will also provide a significantly higher speed and performance for multitasking in comparison to 'first generation' smartphones.

 

The market is expected to witness more excitement on the CPU front, with the launch of multi-core processor based smartphones by a number of mobile phone vendors by end 2011.

India Will Ship 210M Mobile Handsets In 2011

India’s mobile handset market is expected to grow by 25 per cent in volume this year to reach 210 million units, market researh reveals.

According to the firm, the number of handsets shipped in India in 2009 was 119 million and in 2010 it was 167 million units.


Smartphones will form only 5.7% of the handset market in 2011 and will reach 12 million (compared to the 210 million handsets overall) units, the research says. It defines smartphones as mobile devices with “evolved” operating systems, including Symbian Series 60, Android OS, iPhone OS, Blackberry OS and Linux.

These devices run applications faster and offer users PC-like functionality. These phones have ended the need to carry a separate PDA (Personal Digital Assistant) and a mobile phone. Users can browse the Internet, check mail, blog, share photographs, update their status on social networking sites, play games, and download applications with their smartphones. Till the end of 2010, a top-end smartphone used to be equipped with a 1GHz processor. Starting 2011, we will see more dual core processors, the research says.

Telecom analysts label these gadgets as the ‘second wave’ of smartphones as they become capable of performing multiple functions. The market will witness more excitement on the CPU front, with the launch of multi-core processor based smartphones by a number of mobile phone vendors by end 2011.

'Dual Core' smartphones to make a mark in 2011

Sales of nearly 12 million smartphones expected in 2011 represents a near 100 per cent growth over sales of smartphones in 2010. The proportion of smartphones as a percentage of total mobile handset shipments in the India market is expected to grow from 3.6 per cent of 167 million total units in CY 2010 to 5.7 per cent of an estimated 210 million units in CY 2011

With the use of dual core processors in smartphones, these devices have become more powerful as compared to their predecessors. 

CyberMedia Research telecom anlysts label these smartphones as the 'second wave' of smartphones as they become capable of performing multiple functions. Going forward these devices will become as powerful as present day laptops.

Smartphones like Motorola Atrix 4G, LG Optimus X2 use dual core processors. A dual core processor is a combination of two 1 GHz processors, which can be used in parallel giving more power and speed to the device. Though these processors enable more power but a smartphone's overall performance still depends on the integration of its software with its hardware. For example, how closely the phone's software and applications are able to interact with its hardware taking out the maximum advantage of hardware abilities of the phone. The best example is Apple iPhone 4 which runs on a single core processor but is able to take full advantage of its hardware abilities, the research firm said in a release.

According to the firm, some of the applications where multi-core processor based smartphones can provide a boost to usage are Gaming, Autostereoscopic 3D enabled handsets, video streaming, HD (high definition) video recording and playback, video conferencing, HDMI user interface.


Autostereoscopic technique is a method of displaying images with perception of 3D depth without requiring the viewer to wear any glasses. This activity needs extra power and the new generation of smartphones is able to deliver this. The dual core smartphones will also allow users to play advanced games, which need more power. Users will be able to enjoy games or videos on a bigger screen by connecting the smartphone output to an HDTV through HDMI ports. Again, the increased power of a new generation smartphone will prove helpful in running HDMI applications. 

Dual-core processors will enable full HD video playback and recording at 1080p resolution, which is a big leap forward from the 720p video playback currently available in top present day smartphone models. Beyond full HD support, dual-core processors would enable smartphones to run more demanding applications like videoconferencing and video streaming. These smartphones will also provide a significantly higher speed and performance for multitasking in comparison to 'first generation' smartphones. The market is expected to witness more excitement on the CPU front, with the launch of multi-core processor based smartphones by a number of mobile phone vendors by end 2011.

Business Potential of Chinese IT Industry Worth Three Trillion Yuan

The business revenues of the Chinese software industry in the first quarter of this year increased to 345.4 billion yuan (US$53.04 billion), representing a year-on-year growth of 27 percent. Chinese software exports in the first quarter also totaled US$6.75 billion, representing a year-on-year increase of 24.3 percent, according to official data.

By 2015, the expectation is that revenues of the software industry will rise above three trillion yuan (US$460.67). The figures suggest significant opportunities in related industries.
With the global information technology industry continuing its pace of growth, global IT expenditure in 2010 is expected to exceed 5.1 percent.

This growing trend is particularly apparent in emerging countries, such as China, where the IT industry and IT-related sub-industries are experiencing rapid growth. Indeed, in 2010, several software companies in the mainland increased the number of employees to keep up with growth. While the pace of employee expansion is expected to slow down in 2011, companies could report an improvement in profits as employee costs stabilize.

With government and corporate demand for IT products on the rise, various technologies and applications have been developed to meet demands. New applications and domestic alternative products are expected to be the two main areas for industry investments. Moreover, there have been calls for increased investments in EMV IC cards, information security, the "network of things" and cloud computing.

The Securities Times reported that the major opportunities offered by IT industries depended on the trend of developing domestic high-end IT alternatives; applications of emerging new products; and long-term potential demand.


Even as the overall IT industry expands quickly, some related sub-industries are also poised to benefit hugely. The first sub-industry that is likely to benefit is the aviation management software sector. Currently, there are only four civil aviation airports in China that use locally developed aviation management systems. The market for this type of software could expand by several times.

The second sub-industry with good potential involves the computerization of the architectural services industry. There is still ample room for companies specializing in this area to develop, and sales in the sector are expected to hit record highs during 2011.

Moreover, with a recovering economy, the operations of small- and medium-sized enterprises have improved significantly; their IT expenses are also expected to increase in tandem, providing a good opportunity for IT product manufacturers.

Indian Non-Life Insurance Sector is a Goldmine

The Indian non-life insurance sector has substantial growth potential because market penetration remained low--leaving significant room for further growth, said an article published by Standard & Poor's Ratings Services, titled "The Indian Non-Life Insurance Sector Is A Goldmine Of Growth Potential."

India's insurance industry has emerged as one of the fastest developing markets of the global insurance industry. "However, its non-life sector, which includes property/casualty and health insurance, has one of the lowest penetration rates in Asia," said Standard & Poor's credit analyst Damien Magarelli. India has the second-largest population in the world.


From 1994 through 2008, Indian regulators phased out price controls for the major insurance segments, shifting the industry's dynamics and creating both opportunities and challenges for the non-life insurers. Private insurers took advantage of the opportunities and consistently improved their market share and emerged as serious competitors to the public insurers. And, during the past 10 years, the non-life sector maintained--on absolute levels--an impressive growth momentum.


But despite these improvements, the non-life sector continues to face significant challenges relating to underwriting discipline, growth policies, and risk management. In addition, the sector continues to operate an unsustainable business model of relying on investment income which is vulnerable to market volatility to offset underwriting losses. "We view the insurers' persistently poor underwriting performance as a negative factor that could potentially stunt the industry's growth if it remains unchanged," said Magarelli.

"The sector can overcome some of these hurdles in the years to come," said Magarelli. "Provided that the insurers focus more on key factors to determine performance and sustainability of profitability," he continued. These factors include efficient claims management, cost control, superior customer service, product innovation, and timely regulatory reforms.


Further, Standard & Poor's expects that some upcoming developments will change the Indian insurance industry's dynamics within the next five years. These include the potential increase in foreign direct investment, which would provide long-awaited infusion of capital, and favorable policy changes such as initiatives for public awareness and increasing transparency, and infrastructure and operations development. "We believe that these factors would facilitate further growth of the non-life insurance sector," said Magarelli.


In addition to the regulatory actions and progressive policies, Standard & Poor's believes that favorably macroeconomic factors will also facilitate the sector's growth in the long run. The population demographics in India create a favorable environment for the insurance industry's growth. This and other factors such as raising income levels, increased demand for vehicles, increasing health awareness, a shift towards an industrial and service-oriented economy, and a demand for more customized and sophisticated risk solutions enhance the non-life sector's long-term growth prospects with increase in penetration levels.

Current Scenario of Outsourcing In India

Outsourcing is one of the most important income sources in India that has changed the status and placed India amongst the International standards countries. Along with the improvement in the Information Technology, outsourcing has also improved a lot and has been working out hand in hand with the technology development in India.

According to the National Association of Software and Services Company, BPOs and IT compactly fetched an income of $12 billions this year, and is expected to fetch around $148 billion by the year 2012. Around 200,000 Indians are employed in this sector and fetch very good incomes too.

Outsourcing has given India a very effective impact of the international standards and also has placed India as one of the quick growing countries across the globe. India came into existence for the other countries as well and the outsourcing business started blooming to heights.

With outsourcing, not just the business sector, but also the cultural sector of India has developed so much that the standard of living, adaptation in the technologies, etc have immersed very effectively India. The welfare management of the very highly talented and experienced developers, programmers and virtual assistants has taken place quite successfully, with which not only the IT sector, but also all the business sectors have groomed a lot.

Outsourcing, though being in pits for a while due to recession, has started gaining its pace back into action more effectively than before. The talent recognition has also improved to a very high extent and also, the companies have started gaining more success and place in the international markets. The biggest example of such great success is Infosys, which has recently bagged a 3 years outsourcing deal from Microsoft which covers 104 countries across the globe.

Outsourcing is thus very beneficial and has been a boon as a very good income source to India.

What Is The Scope Of Social Networking In Future?

This is the age of contacts for interaction between people to people through social platforms in the web. The tremendous popularity of using the social media networking could never have been realized before. In fact, social media have become an important tool of marketing in true sense of customer orientation. The scope of social networking is widening, and today it offers a strong support to the companies in providing the much desired touch of concern. Future of social media networking brings exciting promises as expected from the experience of limited users from a few companies in the top bracket.

This is the beginning of interweaving social media networking as a positive business process bringing two people together than merely two organizational entities. People can communicate their message to the suppliers or customers and also convey any difference of opinion over the social networks. The business community has started to take a keen interest in the enormous possibilities of reaching and serving the buyers in this emerging domain of marketing.

Social media networking is a more practical approach for dealing with the consumers. It may be for improving the products listening to the customers’ views with critical appreciations. It may also help improving the ways of dealing with buyers using them as ears and the eye of the organizations.  All the big companies are quite optimistic about the positive impact of Social media networking and gone into developing fully integrated processed with a holistic touch.  Take the example of activities the companies like IBM, Microsoft and Google performs to strengthen their networking platforms via social networks like Twitter and Facebook.

The bright future prospect of social networking is also proven with the fact that the technology is integrated in the mobile phones as well. Look at the devices designed with powers of interpersonal communication on a globalized outlook. These devices are now being created to with the perspective of global interaction and messaging across geographical boundaries. The concept is one, wherever on the earth; reach the common platform of the people for everybody’s benefit.

Social networking has tremendous prospects in future

Indian Gold Market

Indians have a huge fascination for gold. This is evident in the fact that India is the largest consumer as well as importer of gold in the world. Gold plays a very important role in the social, religious and cultural life of Indians. India Gold Market looks poised to achieve greater heights given the fascination for gold in the country. India consumes about 800 MT of gold which accounts to about 20% consumption of gold globally. More than 50% of this is used for making gold jewelry.
The domestic India gold market is estimated to be more than US$15 billion and is expected to rise significantly in the coming years. United Arab Emirates imported more than 30% of gems and jewelry from India, making it the largest importer from the country. Hong Kong was the second largest importer with 25% followed by United States with 20%. The gem and jewelry industry accounts for more than 10% of India's total commodities exports.
The government has taken steps to protect the public from buying adulterated gold; Hallmarking of gold jewelry is one such step. Hallmarking of gold jewelry indicates the accurate finding out and official recording of the proportionate content of precious metals present in gold. The marking is done either by laser marking machine or by punches. Hallmark is the official mark used in several countries across the world as an assurance of purity or fineness of gold jewelry. The Bureau of Indian Standard or BIS was named by the Government as the lone agency in the country for providing hallmarking of gold jewelry under the provisions of the BIS Act, 1986.

IS 1417 Grades of gold and gold alloys, Jewelry/Artefacts-Fineness and Marking

IS 1418 Assaying of Gold in Gold Bullion, Gold alloys and Gold Jewelry/ Artefacts - Cupellation (Fire Assay Method)

IS 2790 Guidelines for manufacture of 23, 22,21,18,14 and 9 carat gold alloys

IS 3095 Gold Solders for use in manufacture of Jewelry

Though India is the leading consumer of gold in the world, the gold market in India is largely fragmented and unorganized. Due to the non availability of a benchmark price, the gold prices in India vary very much from region to region. The festive and the wedding season in the country witnesses a heavy demand for gold. Despite the global economic recession, the gold consumption in the country during these times has not abetted.
The monsoons and the harvest of the country have a significant affect on the sale and purchase of gold in the country. Both these factors determine the amount of purchasing power that people will have, which in turn decides on the amount of gold consumption and other consumptions as well. Purchasing gold and other precious metals on occasions like Akshaya Tritiya is considered to be auspicious.

6 Signs That a Product Will Succeed

Products that stand the test of time stand on their own merit. They literally sell themselves.

Evaluating the potential of a product or service is tricky business. What makes one product stand out from another in the market? While there are many qualities that make a good product, there is one thing that separates the stars from the wanna-be’s… The product must speak for itself. If a product can quickly and easily demonstrate to a potential customer why the customer has to buy now, that’s a winner.

Want to know if a product will sell? Use these six points to evaluate its potential.

#1 What Problem Does the Product Solve?

This is the first question to consider because without a problem there’s nothing that will sell any product. People act to avoid pain or seek pleasure. A product must easily show prospective customers that their lives will be better, substantially better, simply because they bought it. Just a word of caution here… the problem must be compelling. People have to feel like the problem is huge, overwhelming, and that this product is the only way to solve it. They need to know that without it, their lives will be miserable. This is the USP (unique selling position) and it is essential to know this before taking any other steps.

#2 Can the Product Give Instant Gratification?

The world is fast-paced. Waiting isn’t an option. TV dinners, the microwave, and drive-thru restaurants are evidence of this reality. To be a success a product must promise instant results. Back it by a money-back guarantee and it has real potential.

#3 Is the Product Demonstrable?

It solves a problem instantly. That’s great. But the reality is that a picture is worth a thousand words. People believe what they see. Show folks what the product does in a compelling, dramatic way, so they want to buy.

#4 Can it Be Manufactured at a Price Consumers Can Afford?

It’s important to consider manufacturing costs when designing a product. Products that do well create a perception of value without breaking the bank.#5 Does the Product Have High Perceived Value?
Perceived value is an important motivator. Does the product do more than one thing? Can it do the job of seven different gizmos? Does it look like a million bucks but sell for five? If not, change the design.

#5 Does the Product Have High Perceived Value?

Perceived value is an important motivator. Does the product do more than one thing? Can it do the job of seven different gizmos? Does it look like a million bucks but sell for five? If not, change the design.

#6Are there Similar Products in the Marketplace?

Be sure to research the competition during the product development phase. While there are new ideas, many products simply improve on an existing concept. They do more, better, faster than their predecessor. Is the product one of a kind? Or is it a me-too? It's important to know the answers to these questions from both a legal and marketing perspective.

Pay attention to need when designing any product. Start with a solid idea then connect to a need in the customer. Take the time to test the product and be willing to listen to prospective customers when they evaluate the product for themselves.

Endosulfan in India is a $300 million market.

Endosulfan has now been banned globally by the Stockholm convention in Geneva. India, which was against a global ban, has agreed to it, with exemptions.

After all, India's share in the global endosulfan market is over 70 per cent with an annual production of 12 million litres valued at Rs 4,500 crore.

Exports of the chemical are valued at Rs 180 crore.

The Indian industry claims that endosulfan is soft on pollinators such as honeybees and beneficial pests such as ladybird beetle while killing harmful ones and, therefore, there is need for a ban.

In Europe it is said that endosulfan presence was found for over six months in soils and, therefore, there was justification in seeking its ban.

However, India responds by stating that under tropical conditions endosulfan degrades faster in the soil and its presence is not felt for more than 20 days. Says it varies across countries and geographic locations.

The other issue of banning endosulfan is that its substitute neo nicotinoids is three times costlier and has been found to harmful to pollinators. Currently, endosulfan costs Rs 250 a litre.

The Indian pesticide industry says that Europe is inspiring the ban as companies in the continent have decided to stop marketing the compound.

For over 55 years, European firms marketed endosulfan and no problem was found then.