Nokia C5-03 is most sought after: The Mobile Indian survey

Over the last three months, the number of models with a touch-based keypad has dropped from 17 to 11, while the number of models with a Touch-Qwerty facility has grown from three to seven.

The constantly shifting taste of mobile phone consumers continued to be reflected in The Handset Hotlist survey (September 2011). Seven of the 25 phones that made it to the list of August -- including the iPhone -- have disappeared from the Hotlist this time round.

The Handset Hotlist, based on a survey of online preferences, is brought out by The Mobile Indian (www.themobileindian.com), and is released every month.

Sreekant Khandekar, director, The Mobile Indian, says, "Since the Hotlist was first released, only 16 models of mobile phones have managed to keep their place in the list, three months in running."

Nokia C5-03 continued to be the most-searched mobile phone on The Mobile Indian for the third consecutive month, followed by Android-based Samsung Galaxy Ace S5830, which stood at No. 4 last month.

The surprise entry is Nokia C2-03, which features on the list for the first time, at No 3. A basic phone, priced at only Rs 4,500 with a S40 operating system, the Nokia C2-03 has a touchscreen and comes with a basic camera.

"Micromax A70, which has figured in the list each month, reaches No. 4, the highest so far. It has consistently been the most searched-for model among the Indian brands on the list," says Khandekar.

Over the last three months, the number of models in the Handset Hotlist with a touch-based keypad has dropped from 17 to 11, while the total number of models with a Touch-Qwerty facility has grown from three to seven. Is this an aberration that will disappear, or does it signal the start of a new trend?

Khandekar adds, "Another possible surmise which can be deduced from the latest Top 25 Handset List is that consumers are now looking for mobile phones with smaller screens, and they would prefer a model with a Touch-Qwerty keypad to navigate the internet. Whether this reasoning is correct will become evident only a few months later."

Top 10 Indian Challengers

The second edition of The Top 10 Indian Challengers also saw huge changes -- in fact, more significant than in the top 25 since half of the 10 models on it are appearing for the first time.

The Challengers' list was introduced in the month of August and is a ranking of the 10 most exciting handsets from Indian marketers, based on the preferences of the visitors on the website.

Commenting on the new Challengers' list, Khandekar says, "The idea of Top 10 Indian Challengers is to go beyond the dominant international names and capture the undercurrent of change in the Indian market. Some of these names could well be the leaders of tomorrow."

In the Challenger list, Micromax bags the top two spots with its A-70 and X-560. Notably, seven handsets of Micromax features in the list. The other three spots were taken up by Spice Mobiles M-6700 Cappuccino (No. 3), iBall Aura V36 (No. 6) and Spice Mobiles M 6868 (No. 8).

Difference between the two lists:

• In the Challenger List, only four of the 10 Indian handsets are 3G-enabled; in the Handset Hotlist, 50 per cent phones are 3G-enabled.

• In the Challenger List, visitors have shown a keen interest in WiFi functionality, as seven out of 10 handsets support it.

• A good camera seems to be gaining popularity in the Challenger choice: five of the handsets have a resolution of 3 MP, and two phones have 5 MP.

Both lists suggest that touchscreens are a must-have and the typical screen size, too, is roughly the same, at about three inches.