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: Recently, Nokia roped in Shah Rukh Khan as its brand ambassador. The Finnish handset major, which holds the lead in the mobile handset market, both in India and globally, for so long had decided to go without an ambassador in India. This is the only area, perhaps, where the market leader was behind its competitors. While American handset maker Motorola has got Abhishek Bachchan as its brand ambassador, London-based Sony Ericsson is riding on the popularity of Hrithik Roshan. Korean handset major Samsung, too, had launched campaigns in the past with John Abraham.

Nokia’s recent move is just one aspect that signifies the changing dynamics in this industry. Though Nokia continues to maintain its stronghold in the country with more than 75% of the market share, in the past couple of years, other players like Motorola, Samsung, Sony Ericsson and LG have managed to inch forward slightly. Motorola is at the second position in the country with a slender lead over Samsung. According to reseach firm IDC, the second quarter of 2007 saw Nokia retaining its big market share while players like Samsung and Sony Ericsson showed slight improvement in their positions. However, none of them has been able to emerge as a clear-cut challenger to Nokia’s dominance in the country. But this is not stopping them from continuously evolving their strategies and taking a more aggressive stance. In fact, it’s spurring them more.