India second-largest market for Nokia

India has now become the second-largest market for Nokia in terms of sales, ahead of the US. Over the past three years, India has been gaining significant ground year-on-year, moving from the 4th position in 2005 to third in 2006, and it is today poised right behind China.

Making this announcement, Olli-Pekka Kallasvuo, the president and CEO of Nokia Corporation, who was in New Delhi today, said, “India is playing an increasingly important role in the global economy buoyed by impressive economic growth, skilled manpower and tremendous business opportunity. Today, India hosts a comprehensive Nokia R&D, manufacturing and design presence. Moreover, we are also the country’s leading provider of wireless infrastructure through Nokia Siemens Networks, the newly-merged entity. This not only reiterates our commitment and belief in the market but also underscores India’s emergence as a strategic resource hub for Nokia globally.”

The company also announced that half of the handsets manufactured at its plant in Sriperumbudur, near Chennai, was being exported to 58 countries across Asia, Africa, Australia and New Zealand.

The company currently employs over 9,000 people and has 95,000 outlets with 50,000 exclusive Nokia brand stores. The Sriperumbudur manufacturing plant alone employs 4,700 people, 70 per cent of them women.

Moreover, Nokia Telecom Park, which received an investment of $500 million (Rs 2,043 crore) from the company and seven global component manufacturers, is likely to generate over 30,000 jobs when fully functional.

Buoyed by the growth of the Indian economy and the telecommunications segment, the company sees the country as a focused market.

The prompt ‘product advisory’ issued recently (the company does not call it a recall) for the BL-5C battery manufactured by Matsushita Battery Industrial, indicates how sensitive it is about its reputation. The feedback that the company received post its advisory also reiterates its position in India. On the very first day (August 16) of the opening of its centre for advice on the faulty batteries, Nokia India answered 20,000 calls and received 1.45 lakh SMSes.