From auto, refrigerator, and mobile handset makers to real estate firms, companies are tying up with banks to dole out attractive finance schemes and discounts to make buying more affordable.
Industry body to write to commerce ministry, seek regulation for e-tailers.
This is the first time that sales of smartphones exceeded that of feature phones.
There will be uncertainty about outcomes,but one must hope for the best, observes T N Ninan.
As competition for the smartphones market hots up, new players are making waves.
We tell you why you should consider buying one of these top 5 smartphones this Diwali!
FIFA World Cup revs up television sales in India
Xiaomi now a lifestyle player, quietly launching a slew of non-smartphone products like Mi branded luggage, backpacks, apparel, U-shaped pillows, pens, home security cameras and air purifiers.
OnePlus announces plans to make in India
The government's stated vision is that it wants to make India a manufacturing hub and that is where such a rush or confusing policies don't help, reports Shubhomoy Sikdar.
According to CyberMedia Research, over 7.46 lakh tablets were sold in the January-March 2014 quarter by as many as 30 domestic and international vendors.
From new and competitively-priced iPhones to slashing prices of its older models, it had a multi-pronged strategy.
Google is followed by Sony India who won the runner-up position.
'The pressure on relative performance and the feeling of being left out among many investors may also account for the belief among many that this has to be a technology stock bubble.' 'The feeling of a bubble is also reinforced by the extreme performance gap between growth and value investing.' 'While at first glance, one can only stand back awestruck by the wealth creation delivered by technology stocks globally. It does not seem at all like the internet bubble of 1999-2000, says Akash Prakash.
Why the new LG smartphone is worth a try.
Recently, Prime Minister Narendra Modi met over 40 CEOs across broad swathes of industry, ranging from makers of mobile devices, auto components, food products to telecom networking equipment and pharmaceuticals. The agenda: To discuss how to make India an integral part of the global supply chain. The focus of the discussion would be the much touted yet not so well understood production-linked incentive scheme (PLI), the centrepiece of the government's drive to massively boost the manufacturing sector. To do so, the government has created a war chest of over Rs 197,000 crore to be paid out as incentives to over 14 industries in five years. There are three objectives to the scheme, two explicitly stated, one implied.
Apart from the growing adoption of the internet in the country, brands are drawn to the agility of the medium, its targeted and data driven approach and the increasing cost of offline channels for sales and distribution.
Not only is this hidden from the user, it's often unrelated to the app's purpose.
The foremost lesson is that technology has got commoditised.
The Chinese smartphone maker's focus on offline retail has helped it overtake Samsung in top 50 cities in India.
Urban and rural FMCG sales growth data for the last five quarters show the latter outperformed the former consistently.
For India to be atmanirbhar, domestic manufacturers cannot remain merely assemblers of imported parts. Manufacturing in India cannot survive on support of imports forever.
Come July, mobile phone prices are expected to be dearer by up to 10 per cent due to the steep depreciation in the value of rupee against dollar.
An old consumer electronics warhorse looks to leverage its past.
'The Chinese outdid them in the price game and turned the competitive dynamics at the lower end of the handset market from price to value.'
In order to counter the growing penetration of e-commerce portals, the ICT industry in Gujarat is also mulling initiation of its own portal for selling products.
Ashish Narsale/Rediff.com looks at the latest phone in the market.
Customers can link their cards to banks' app and make payments after scanning a 'quick response' code.
'India missed the software products revolution (and now is in danger of missing the platform revolution), complacent that we are the software experts of the world based on IT services prowess,' points out Rajeev Srinivasan.
Researchers are investigating how software-defined cellular networking might be used to give smartphone users the next generation of super-superfast broadband - 5G.
Competition in the booming multi-billion dollar Indian smartphone market is further set to intensify with e-commerce giants Amazon, Flipkart and Snapdeal all set to launch Google's much-awaited sub-$100 (around Rs 6,000) handsets on Monday.
'India's future: To manufacture so efficiently that we do not need protection,' says Naushad Forbes.
Experts say launches would pick up pace from mid-March.
All eyes this year, however, are on Nokia's latest launches.
With image quality that is top-notch coupled with outstanding audio, the smoothness of the Sony Bravia OLED A8F gives quite a satisfying experience, says Aparna Banerjea
Its time the RBI, govt pushes reforms to boost global investment
Tim Cook, CEO of Apple, recently stated that he sees India in the same position that China was seven to ten years ago
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Big brands are keen to tie up with IPL for advertising purposes.
Apple Inc's embrace of wireless charging for its new Watch may be a defining moment for a technology that's languished for years amid competing standards and consumer confusion.
In the last few years, zero per cent financing has become quite attractive as consumers aspire to buy the latest products, especially in categories such as mobile phones and television sets.
