Asian phone buyers looking to buy more local, instead of Nokia

Local handset makers are giving Nokia a run for its money in Asian markets such as Indonesia and India, where the Finnish company has traditionally been strong in.

In a research note released yesterday, ABI Research stated that the Asian handset market will see 624 million devices sold by the end of the year, thus representing a 6.9 percent year-on-year growth. In India and Indonesia, growth in 2012 is predicted at 11.2 percent and 16 percent year-over-year growth, respectively.

As the market expands though, Nokia's hold on these markets show signs of weakening. The research showed that while the Finnish phonemaker held on to 37 percent market share in India in 2011, local vendors such as G'Five, Micromax, Karbonn, and Spice, as well as foreign ones such as Samsung, were "not far behind." And in Indonesia, Nokia's market share shrank to 21 percent last year as Research In Motion, Nexian, HT Mobile, and Cross made inroads, it added.

To read more, go to "Nokia's grip on Asia weakens" at ZDNet.

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