Indicus Analytics, An Economics Research Firm
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Consumer Markets
March 2009
From around India
Still growing
The peripherals market that includes TFT monitors, flash
drives, projectors et al will see an uptick in 2009.
According to MAIT, market for keyboards and monitors
grew by 14% each over H1 2007-08. With respect to
keyboards, the number of units sold between April 07 to
September 07was 2,605,425; October 07 to March 08 –
2,973,575; and April 08 to September 08 – 2,962,889.
Qualcomm Ventures keeps faith in mobile
At a time when venture capitalists (VCs) are diversifying
into sectors other than technology, Qualcomm Ventures –
the venture capital arm of telecommunications major
Qualcomm – will continue to invest in firms catering to the
mobile and semiconductors ecosystem.
No slowdown in AC & fridge sales
All major players in the durables segment are emphatic
that they have managed to buck the trend and are still
registering growth, though not as much as expected.
Samsung launches India’s first 8MP Pixon M8800 touch
phone
Samsung launches India’s first 8MP Pixon M8800 touch
phone. Strengthening its touchscreen portfolio, Samsung
has launched India’s first 8 megapixel touchscreen phone,
Pixon M8800.
Mercedes launches SUV M-Class in India
The M-Class would be available in two engines – ML 350
CDI and ML 320 CDI with ex-showroom Mumbai price of
Rs 53.77- lakh and Rs 54-lakh, respectively.

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Robust numbers in key sectors over the last two-three
months do not indicate a revival in demand.
What is intriguing is that despite demand contraction in
IIP numbers for two consecutive months of December
(0.6 per cent) and January (0.5 per cent), sentiment in
sectors such as auto (up 13 per cent y-o-y), steel (higher
production estimates in current quarter) and cement
(higher dispatches between November to February period)
has shown some buoyancy.
Ford India posts 35% sales growth in February
The new Ford Ikon continues to impress the entry level
mid size segment customers, with leaderships across
India seeing consistent bookings….
2-wheeler, auto-rickshaws may feel Nano impact
Some companies think the Nano will replace the three-
wheeler auto-rickshaw market, creating an alternative
mode of commercial transport. Others believe the small
car will wean away potential Maruti 800 buyers, convert
automatic and gearless scooter owners and prove an
attractive alternative to both second-hand car and
premium motorcycle customers.
Demand curve: Indicus-Mint Series
The new contours of rural affluence
Rural affluence does not stem solely from agriculture. A
large number of households in Kerala benefit from
remittances as well as returning migrants.
Who are the rural rich? We use a simple definition—
households having annual income greater than Rs5 lakh a
year, or slightly more than Rs40,000 per month. Gujarat,
due to its large cash crop production, Uttar Pradesh
because of its large size, Kerala, with its cash crops plus
returning migrants, and Punjab and Haryana account for
the largest number of rural rich. But if we look at the
concentration of the rich, namely, the percentage share of
rich households to the total households, we find a
different picture. The small states of Goa and Delhi are
also included in the Top 5.

Indicus Analytics, An Economics Research Firm
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Source: Market Skyline of India
Why is rural Gujarat more prosperous than UP, despite
the fact that the latter has much better soil and a far
better agricultural ecosystem? Gujarat has made rapid
advances in rural infrastructure for the last many years, it
has a high proportion of land devoted to cash crops, and
its farmers have benefited from Bt cotton, a biotech crop.
On the other hand, Punjab and Haryana have a stagnating
agriculture with tapering or falling productivity increases.
Nagaland, at the other end of the country, has taken to
cash crops in a big way, cardamom being one of its
rapidly growing crops. Being a small state, though, the
market size is smaller than in other states, and
connectivity still needs significant improvement. Still, this
is one state that has been doing particularly well in
agriculture in the recent past.
The district-level story yields even more interesting
insights. Three districts from Kerala make it to the top of
the charts. Wayanad, with its commercial crops and
plantations of coffee, tea, pepper and rubber, leads in the

Indicus Analytics, An Economics Research Firm
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number of rural rich households and has also become an
attractive tourist destination. Midnapore in West Bengal is
the only district from the east in the list. A large district
with a high population density, Midnapore has seen farm
production grow steadily in the last two-and-a-half
decades.
But rural affluence does not stem solely from agriculture.
A large number of households in Kerala benefit from
remittances as well as returning migrants. Gurgaon in
Haryana has seen rapid increases in land values in its
urban area. With prospective developers buying up large
tracts of land, many of Gurgaon’s rural inhabitants have
entered the ranks of the affluent by selling their land. To
some extent, the story is similar for Surat in Gujarat, one
of the most rapidly growing cities of the 1990s and 2000s.
Rural affluence today is not only about agriculture, though
it does have a strong role to play. In a country where the
share of agriculture in the economy is falling steadily, it is
but natural that many areas would have non-agriculture
related stories. Yes, manufacturing, trade and
construction are the new drivers of rural affluence.
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Household Incomes generated by the top
cities of India
Chennai
393
Ahmadabad
429
Pune
446
Total Urban Areas in Thane
569
Income (Rs Kolkata
350
Rs billions) 602 Bangalore
Delhi
1,264
1,608
Mumbai
13,261
East
West
North
5,167
South
2,849 3,233 Top 112 cities
2,011
Total Income (Rs billions)
Source City Skyline of India 2008-09
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Insights from Indicus
Consumer Market Trends for India – Incomes and Savings
The results of living it up

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Will Inflation strike us back in 2009-10?
Employment during slowdown
UPA score card: Communications I
Continuing Opportunities in the Indian Financial Sector
Consumer Demography and Markets in Top cities of India
Middle and lower middle income segment is driving
housing demand
From around the world
US Consumer Sentiment
The headline index edged 3 tenths higher to a still
severely low level of 56.6. But expectations, the report's
leading component, did rise 2-1/2 points to 53.0 --
indicating that pessimism isn't getting worse and perhaps
hinting that pessimism may now be receding.
Digital living room' getting closer
Recent announcements from electronics companies,
Hollywood studios, Internet firms and cable networks
suggest that dream is becoming a reality.
Homebuilder Confidence in U.S. Was Unchanged in March
Confidence among U.S. homebuilders in March held near a
record low, matching forecasts, as the housing slump
showed no sign of easing.
Recovery Can't Mean U.S. Resumes Role As Super-
Consumer
The danger now, as economic activity slows around the
globe, is that the G-20 leaders will seek recovery in a new
version of the old, unbalanced system. That is, the nations
of Europe and Asia will look to America, with its massive
multitrillion-dollar stimulus and rescue programs, to rev
up the world's sputtering engine.
Outsized Finance Sector Meant Outsized Consumer
Spending?
The bottom line is that the financial sector may not be as
big a part of the new economy, employing fewer people

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and paying them less. And consumer spending may not be
as big a share of the economy, either, which would mean
fewer stores and fewer people who work in them. If that’s
right, the economy could be on the verge of a shift that’s
on a scale with the move away from manufacturing in the
early 1980s. Such changes are never easy.
HP Adds B-P Battery Tech to Most Consumer Laptops
Boston-Power's agreement with Hewlett-Packard has
borne fruit, as the top PC supplier agreed to sell B-P's
three-year Sonata lithium-ion batteries in conjunction with
70 percent of its consumer notebook PC line.
Senate Approves Consumer Protection Bill
The first step towards a new consumer protection law has
been taken with unanimous senate approval. The new law
would force companies to mail out rebates within 90 days
of being declared. It would also limit the buyers' time to
apply for a rebate to two weeks. We spoke with the Better
Business Bureau and they tell us in these tough times,
more people are asking for help with rebates.

Indicus Analytics, An Economics Research Firm
http://indicus.net/Newsletter/Consumer_Market.aspx
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