No takers for high-end mobile phones now

Consumers are opting for the cheaper stuff since Diwali

No takers for high-end mobile phones now

Consumers are opting for the cheaper stuff since Diwali

Recession has hit sales of high-end mobile sets, which have seen a drop after Diwali. But the sales of low-end mobiles haven't been affected.

"The drop has been for the past three months after Diwali. The sale of low-priced mobiles is unaffected. 65 per cent of mobiles that we sell are the low-priced ones because of which the business remains unaffected," said Shiraz Ali, regional purchase manager, Sangeetha Mobiles.

Ali is optimistic that they can draw gadget freaks. "This month the sales have picked up. This is because banks have dropped interest rates on EMIs. We offer mobiles on EMIs for credit card holders. Banks reduced the interest in the last week of January. Sales are better this month. We also have offers like 1 GB memory chip for Rs 99 and 2 GB memory chips for Rs 199," he said.

No freebies either

Praveen Kumar, proprietor of The Mobile Gallery too said that there was a decrease in sales.u00a0

"The decrease is only in sale of high-end phones. I think people are not buying expensive phones now. Now, we have begun giving memory chip and Bluetooth free. The drop in sales is about 10 per cent, which has been for the past three months," he said.

Salman Pasha of the Phone Gallery has seen a slump in sales. "Earlier we used to sell about 13 to 15 high end phones every day. But now it has come down to six to seven phones. Companies have not announced any offers so we can't dole out offers," he said.

Chinese sets down

Chinese mobiles too have seen a reduction in sales.u00a0

"There is not much business at all. At first the recession brought a reduction in sales. Then there was news that Chinese phones have no IMI number and so should not be bought. Both these factors have hit our business.u00a0u00a0u00a0 People are not even buying the Chinese 3G, iphone and Blackberry. Anyway from next month Chinese mobiles are coming with IMI numbers. I hope sales pick up then," said Adil Hussain, who runs a mobile shop in National Market.

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