A Smart Choice?

Many channel partners might not have yet noticed it, but the business attitude towards smartphones is changing and the shift may well present some great opportunities for resellers and integrators. The launch of tablets and smartphones by PC vendors, has giving opportunities to the telecom channels as well.

For channel, there is a lot of potential in the smartphones segment. Smartphones have marked the beginning of a new era in the business of mobile communication. The ease of a complete operating system software, with PC-like functionality, voice services with email, fax, pager or Internet access has created a huge demand for smartphones in India.

HUGE POTENTIAL
In a country like India which has more than 700 mn mobile phone connections (729 mn total subscribers, as of November 2010, as per Trai), mobile phones have passed through the shift from being a 'want' to being a 'need'. Given the rapid growth in India's mobile market, there is a tremendous opportunity to grow in the smartphones category.

Smartphones are growing in India and IDC India reports that 6 mn smartphones were sold in 2010. This indicates that the smartphones market in India has a huge potential for growth and has become a focus market for major players worldwide.

Emergence of smartphones as a new tool for conducting businesses and personal networking has been a major driver for increasing its demand. Smartphones have been instrumental in bringing business transactions into the palm of people's hands-with anytime, anywhere accessibility.

According to Gartner, smartphones will globally outsell all personal computers-desktops and notebooks by 2010. It touched 54.3 mn units in the first quarter of 2010. This implies that more consumers will now be reachable by mobile web than by traditional Internet.

"With the falling price, essentially, smartphones are now being used as a primary communication device for a range of needs like entertainment, social networking, uploading and sharing content etc, the same way as computers, especially among the mobile savvy professional and GenY segments," said Mahesh Bhalla, GM-consumer and SMB, Dell India.

OPPORTUNITIES FOR SMART PARTNERS
Smartphones are better placed than a standard mobile phone to deal with several advances because of their large display screens and speedy Internet connections. "There is a huge demand for smartphones not only in India, but across the world and these trends are here to stay for long. Hence it is an emerging opportunity for partners, which is growing by leaps and bounds," said Rajeev Mehta, MD, Zest Systems.

There are at least 1,20,000 retail outlets selling mobile phones-and some vendors say that this number could be closer to 2,00,000. However, selling of smartphones is quite different from ordinary handsets. Channel partners need to be true solution partners in order to sell a smartphone. "VARs can make a lot of bucks on this. Smartphones are intelligent phones, there are several applications and features for partners to understand so that partners can communicate to customers. We are selling BlackBerry smartphones. Largely, the users of smartphones are people on the move, hence customizing the applications as per user's needs is something that the partners have to learn, which ironically not all the partners are able to deliver," said Mehta.

Another area where smartphones are offering opportunities to solution providers is security applications. Smartphones are everywhere, and they carry vital corporate data, whether they are secured or not. With the exposure of 1,50,000 iPad owners' personal data recently, along with new reports that highlight Android security problems, opportunities are abound for channel partners, to create a mobile-security practice for business customers. "A smarphone executive does not necessarily need to know how the mobile security and other applications usage is made, they just need to know whether the risks are being remediated or mitigated. And that is very, very lucrative for the VAR partner who can deliver it," pointed Bhalla.

According to Vishal Chopra, business head-mobile communications, LGEIL, "Smartphones are not going to grow by leaps and bounds compared to where they are today, but they will be closer to becoming the single most important device we own. Partners should capitalize on 3 key trends that will cause a fundamental change in the role and nature of smartphones over the next few years. These include-broadband everywhere, digitization of all content, and pocket computing power."

Bhalla feels that there is a huge convergence of user devices that enable consumers to easily connect anytime, anywhere. Our strategy is to continue creating smart, innovative and new mobility experiences to help people discover new ways to enjoy the web, connect with friends, and navigate their lives. We believe in following Dell's purpose, to give our partners the power to do more, and enabling them to understand customer needs and requirements."

CHALLENGES FOR PARTNERS
Mehta said, "The key bottleneck in selling smartphones is lack of training. Most customers do not use advanced services, due to lack of awareness or understanding. Therefore, this is a missing link which vendors should fulfill. Clearly, smartphone selling is not all about selling a box; it is a solution. Hence, it is essential for partners to have the right skill sets and make it a lucrative business."

"The smartphone industry is a cut-throat industry that never seems to sleep. Every time we turn around there is another feature or cutting-edge technology that makes the existing smartphone a thing of the past and makes the consumer think about his next smartphone, even before the current one is damaged. Today, we can already predict what tomorrow's smartphone will be capable of. Hence, growing with the time and scaling up business is crucial for partners to keep in mind," concluded Chopra.