Mumbai: The field of technology in the year 2010 was quite exciting and eventful especially in the segment of mobile phones, which returned as status symbols in India in its latest avatar — the smartphones. The new generation devices were picked up by not just the wealthy or the forever-experimenting geeks but also became a must-have productivity tool for business executives and young professionals as well.
Led by a sharp drop in prices, the rise of social networking phenomenon, the need to stay connected while being on the move, aggressive marketing by handset manufacturers as well as peer pressure, smartphones became the hottest gizmo this year.
All other sought-after gadgets such as portable music players, digital cameras, radios, gaming and navigation devices were left behind in the race as smartphones offered the ultimate convergence solution for all needs and moods of the consumer.
Mobile phones ceased to remain mere telephonic devices as it started meaning different things to different people and playing myriad roles in their lives.
"It is like a mobile computer and a one-stop solution for all my communication requirements. And the best part is that it also doubles up as a complete entertainment device," says 28-year-old engineer Abhijeet Singh, who opened up his wallet for an i-Pho ne earlier this year.
Those who could only dream of buying expensive phones were rescued by a number of 'desi' and Chinese brands that were selling smartphones for even less than Rs 4,000.
According to industry figures, the smartphone market in India had expanded to around 7 to 7.5 million handsets in 2010 growing 30 per cent year-on-year.
In the next five years, smartphones are expected to have 25 per cent share in the overall mobile phone market, which has around 600 million connections
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