It is a well established fact that the dual-SIM market in India is on a rise. Not only established players such as Nokia and Samsung have ventured in the dual SIM market, but Indian companies too have been venturing in this lucrative market. But with big companies like Nokia and Samsung entering the market, Indian companies are struggling to keep their foothold in this segment.

A research showed that multi-SIM mobile handsets shipments accounted for 54% of the Indian mobile handset market during November 2011 in the country with Nokia being the leader in the category with 19% market share. The Finnish mobile phone manufacturer shipped nearly 18 million dual-SIM handsets across the globe by the third quarter of 2011. Nokia is followed by Micromax and Karbonn which enjoyed market share of 7.1% and 6.9% respectively.

According to experts, the growth of Indian players has not been the same as it was a couple of years back. What has further put pressure on Indian handset manufacturers such as Lava, Karbonn and Maxx is the fact that the market has become stagnant in terms of growth in volume. But Indian companies are upbeat for the fact that their competitive pricing will help them to be in the race. Indian cell phone companies are banking upon the accessories they are providing with their products to boost sales in the market.

It is to be noted that companies such as Samsung have established presence in smartphone and feature phone market and this is further strengthening their presence in the dual-SIM market. Indian companies are also trying to come up with smartphones at an affordable price to challenge big players.