Reality Check at Smartphone Outlets

The mobile phone market is undergoing transformation with the rapid proliferation of smartphones. Not surprisingly, Samsung which has come up with the most number of new offerings seems to have toppled Nokia from the top spot where it had found itself perched for long. The smartphone wave was not unexpected since with the spread of 3G services this had to happen. For a person looking for a new mobile handset after almost four-and-a-half years, I found my market research process has been educative and fascinating. The Nokia shops in Gurgaon, the Delhi suburb, where I stay have been far less crowded than what was the case when I bought my last handset. The gap in their product portfolio seems to be telling from this simple indicator. People don't seem to swarming single company stores too. The shopkeepers scoring well seem to be those who are selling handsets from different companies. In some of the shops I have visited in the last 45 days or so, there is no place to stand at any time of the day. You will find yourself elbowed around. Then, there is the fascinating world of mobile accessories. There is simply no end to what you can do with your mobile phone. Of course, while I might not use most of them but this gives customers like me a feeling of empowerment. That's not to forget that making a choice has become more difficult. I have seen that for myself with the amount of time it has taken me to get a fix on what I want and what I can afford. But a more important thing is that I realised that with this kind of proliferation of mobile phones and their accessories, there is little doubt that our future is, well, mobile. For a finance person, there can be little doubt that the next frontier is mobile money--financial transactions and financial information dissemination on the mobile. While some might kind argue that it is already happening. But I suspect  we have seen nothing yet. After mobile shops never used to sport the look they do today. Smartphones are really promising an exciting new and smart future for us.