From the category archives:

india

Ganpati Bappa Morya – #mumbai #india

September 22, 2010

Walking the streets of Mumbai yesterday during the Ganpati celebrations I avoided the paint powders being thrown around and shot some video on my mobile. These are just a few clips after editing quickly on the phone and uploading. We followed one of the parade routes to the sea. Thousands join this procession. Many of [...]

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Indian Co’s Branding the China Mobile | Also Targeting Ultra Low Cost Handsets

January 16, 2010

More on those emerging India “brand” china phones. They have reached rural India. The retailer will tell you he can buy them in Mumbai for 1800 rupees and make 400 to 600 on each one. Here’s what a typical store front looks like today. He’s supporting a range of local china phone brands which are [...]

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Why the iPhone remains a non-starter in India.

January 11, 2010

A few weeks ago this Shanzai article caught my attention. It asks why the Smart Phone market in India doesn’t shake out like in the US and Europe. It comes down to one thing. There is no 3G and the GPRS connections are very variable. For the hyperconnected on GPRS you don’t worry about browsing. [...]

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Karbonn Mobile Knocking out Big Brands – #India

January 9, 2010

China Phone – Karbonn Punch Out – Leaves Traditional Mobile Brands Reeling on the Ropes. Back in April 2008 I started paying attention to China Phones in India. I’d first come across one in a rural village. “China Phone” Beats Nokia N95 in Boombox Test. It didn’t take long to establish that the kids already [...]

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How Many Passengers Travel in Your SUV? 17? More?

December 17, 2009

Yesterday Dina and I were traveling back from rural groups and interviews. It’s not uncommon to see all modes of travel. Yet the Indian ability to squeeze the most passengers into a car continues to amuse me. We stopped at a roadside restaurant. Outside there were kids and adults and just one car. It was [...]

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Gurgaon 3 Years on.

November 12, 2009

I spent most of 2006 in Gurgaon, India. Although an ancient town, at that time the new mall capital of India was roughly five years old. Today it’s not yet 10 and yet after two visits there, this trip it felt surprisingly more lived in. Three years ago I was shocked by the generators in [...]

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The Drive for Education is the Real Fortune at the Bottom of the Pyramid

November 11, 2009

I’ve just recently (before eComm) returned from a month in India with the Mosoci team completing multiple projects, with people from all walks of life. One way or another I’ve completed almost 100 immersions and in-depth interviews or read the transcriptions thereof. I’ve met people from all walks of life, rural, city migrants, entrepreneurs, managers [...]

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America Needs a New Approach to SMS – Learning from India

February 5, 2009

Indian rates for SMS are now at 8 paise. 100 paise to the Rupee. about 47 rupees to the dollar. So $.003 per SMS locally in India today. Guess what, use is exploding! That doesn’t compare very well with the US where we are paying a posted rate of 20 cents per SMS. Now I [...]

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What Everyone in India seems to know about the iPhone and why they aren’t excited by it

February 4, 2009

While visiting India over the last two weeks I had my usual set of shocks and observations. Sometimes they get blogged and they also fit with other contextual things I’m seeing. What surprised me about these observations and comments I heard this time, was who spoke them. From kids to adults they “know” about the [...]

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Bangalore – First Impressions

February 3, 2009

On my recently completed trip to India, I made my third trip to Bangalore. This time, my visit was different and I was there for a few days. I’ve written previous posts on India and doing research there. I’ve also encouraged visitors to look beyond the oft traveled routes. If you don’t, you might get [...]

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