Let’s begin the new year with what most of us like in mobile handsets: the camera phone. The camera phone market will be the key driving force in the future, at least for the next few years. Historically, Japanese cellular subscribers have been especially receptive to more features added to their handsets. Although the cellular handset market in Japan is up 27 per cent in 2005 (to 52 million units) as compared to 2002 (41 million units), the Japanese digital-camera-equipped cell phone market has more than doubled, growing from 19 million units in 2002 to 47 million units in 2005, according to a new study by IC Insights.

But in a surprise finding, the study found that the camera phone has been gaining popularity outside of Japan, and, although the Japanese market was the "early adopter" of the camera phone, it is estimated that the Japanese market will represent only about 13 per cent of the total demand for camera-equipped handsets in 2005, down from 95 per cent just three years earlier in 2002.

In 2006, 54 per cent of all handsets shipped will be camera-enabled phones, according to the report. In 2007, 62 per cent of all handsets shipped will be camera-enabled phones, according to the report. And in 2008, some 68 per cent of all handsets shipped will be camera-enabled products, according to the report. "In 2009, camera-equipped cellular phones are forecast to represent almost three-fourths of the total handset market, up from about 45 per cent in 2005. Nokia alone is expected to ship over 100 million camera-equipped handsets in 2005. Moreover, the quality of the camera in the cellular handset is increasing dramatically," the study says.

In early 2002, most camera phones offered 300,000-pixel images. In 3Q03, Sony Ericsson’s leading-edge MovaSO505i handset was equipped with a built-in camera featuring a resolution of more than one million pixels. In May of 2004, Casio introduced a camera-equipped cellular phone that offered 3.2 million pixel autofocus imaging capability. Samsung began shipping its SCH-770, the world’s first 7.4 million-pixel camera-equipped cellphone in mid-2005.

This handset was priced at over $900. The high-resolution, 1 megapixel versions, of camera phones are forecast to go from representing only about four per cent of the 2004 camera phone market to almost 95 per cent of the market in 2009. Most of the high-resolution camera phones sold in 2009 are expected to have two mega pixel capability.

FMCG majors like HLL and CavinKare are currently in the process of graduating from a geography-based sales functioning to an outlet-based strategy to gear up for modern trade and to enhance their understanding of buyer motivations.

"Starting November, we continue to put in place a few changes in our marketing, sales, and supply chain management strategies. "We are moving from a geography-based sales organisation to an outlet-type based sales organisation and have separate field forces for organised retail, paan-beedi-kiosk outlets, kirana-general merchant-pharmacy outlets and one for the wholesale segment," said Mr K.S. Ramesh, chief executive officer and executive director, CavinKare.

The idea, he said, "is that each of the outlet types requires different selling skills and hence there is a lot of gain by having specialised field organisation to address the needs of each outlet type." Mr Ramesh also said, "We have also moved our order/billing and shipping process to a continuous replenishment system of inventories with our distributors. Based on learnings, we will roll it out to the modern retail formats also very soon. We believe that this will greatly improve customer service while ensuring optimum inventory levels at the same time."

He added, "Over 75 per cent of our current business comes from price points below Rs 5. We will now leverage the modern trade to grow our large pack business."

A source in the industry, refusing to give exact details, said, "HLL too is slowly moving to an outlet-based strategy and as far as Procter and Gamble is concerned well it has an extremely different and unique selling strategy wherein it only deals with the largest distributor in a particular area so its sales functioning is an entirely different ballgame."

Reliance Infocomm on Sunday announced the launch of a new scheme called "One Nation, One Tariff", wherein postpaid and prepaid customers of the company can make calls from Reliance IndiaMobile anywhere across the country for just Re 1 per minute.

For prepaid customers the plan will be available on an e-recharge of Rs 1,100, inclusive of service tax, and comes with a talk time of Rs 750 and 1,100 free SMSs that can be sent to any phone within the state.Mr Shukla, president, wireless, Reliance Infocomm, said this was an initial scheme targeted mainly at business entrepreneurs, while the postpaid scheme will be available at Rs 499. All calls, including STD calls, will be available at Re 1 per minute. This aggressive plan had been brought in to further increase the options for its subscribers, he added.

The new plan by Reliance is sure to intensify the ongoing price war by other telecom operators targeting consumers at the base level, said telecom experts. When contacted, a spokesperson for Bharti’s Airtel said, "We were the first to launch e-recharge and other such strategies and plans, and have consistently come out with many schemes. Our IT minister had already indicated that in 2006 he would like to see telecom operators offer a single rate across the country to boost telecom penetration. I would not like to comment on our competitors plans, but Airtel will soon offer a competitive scheme for our customers after carefully studying the market for such low tariffs."

Airtel has recently launched a plan that was aimed at stopping the churn in the prepaid subscriber base which allowed users to take a prepaid connection with lifetime validity for a one time payment of Rs 999. Subscribers availing themselves of this scheme would get full talktime for the recharge coupon they purchase. Tata Teleservices had earlier launched a similar plan and had got one million new subscribers within the first 45 days of the launch.

The new scheme by Reliance has been launched close on the heels of lifetime validity schemes brought in by almost all the telecom operators in the country. This is the first time any telecom operator has initiated a single call rate across the country breaking the circle barrier. This announcement by Reliance is expected to provide further thrust to efforts at breaking circle barriers and bringing in an uniform rate across the country. Reliance have said that such schemes with flexible tariffs were needed so that their customers would not get tied to any one tariff plan. Mr Shukla hoped that the new scheme will have an positive impact on the sales and revenues of the company, whose subscriber base was expanding at 3.8 million a month.