AMI's 2011-12 India SMB Mobility Landscape, Opportunity Assessment & Outlook study delivers insights on how India SMBs are adjusting and adapting to the ever increasing mobile environment. With mobility on the rise among India small and medium businesses, the market has witnessed a significant shift towards adoption of mobile devices and services such as smart phones, tablets, wireless cards, data plans and hosted applications. More than two thirds of India SMBs (companies having <1000 employees) own at least one smart phone or tablet, and almost half plan to purchase more devices in the next year.
Neha Jalan, Mumbai-based Senior Associate, AMI-Partners said, "The availability of low-cost smart phones and tablets has fueled demand among India SMBs–as has the launch of competitively priced 3G data plans. The India government has proactively driven the launch of Aakash, an Android-based tablet computer originally projected as the $35 computer (the price for which has since gone up slightly). Also driving this demand are various other devices from both PC and telecom vendors priced to range between the Aakash and Apple’s iPad (considered to be the best-known and most expensive tablet in the market)."
Smart phones have become an issue of strategic importance to the majority of India SMBs. Over half of these businesses would consider replacing desk phones with smart phones, thereby providing advanced calling features to remote/mobile employees.
Ms. Jalan said, "India SMBs have traditionally shown a penchant for staying connected to partners. This attitude is translating into an increased adoption of smart phones, which offer the twin benefits of anytime, anywhere voice and data connectivity."
