Varunproject.docx

CERTIFICATE

This is to certify that the project on the topic of “A Study on Brand Preference of Mobile Phones Among College Students of Thiruvananthapuram .“ Submitted by Archa S,Jaiwant Sunkumar,Nisha Kumari,Reshma R S & Varun Vinay Nair in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the Degree in Bachelor of Commerce,of University of Kerala is a bonafide record of the work done by them under my guidance and supervision.

To best of my knowledge the report is original and has not been copied or submitted anywhere else. It is independent work done by them.

Chempazhanthy

Reshma Prasad

28/03/2019

Associate Professor

Prof. T.K Valsan Head of the Department

Counter Signature

Dr.C.Mohan Sreekumar Principal

DECLARATION

We, the undersigned hereby declare that the project report titled “A STUDY ON THE BRAND PREFERENCE OF MOBILES AMONG COLLEGE STUDENTS OF THIRUVANANTHAPURAM” submitted under Prof.T K.Valsan Associate Professor in Commerce,in partial fulfillment of the requirement for the award of Bachelor of Commerce Degree of University of Kerala. We also declare that this report was not been submitted by us fully or partially for the award of any degree,diploama or recognition anywhere else.

Chempazhanthy 28/03/2019

Archa S

15916888024

Jaiwant Sunkumar

15916888029

Nisha Kumari

15916888010

Reshma R S

15916888036

Varun Vinay Nair

15916888020

AKNOWLEDGEMENT

When we embarked this project,it appeared as a difficult task. Slowly as we progressed we did realized that we were not alone after all. We wish to express our gratitude to Dr. Mohansreekumar C, Principal,SNGAS,Chempazhanthy ,for the moral help extended throughout the Project. We are deeply indebted to, Prof. T K Valsan, Supervising teacher for valuable and enlightened,guidance and also the freedom he rendered to us during this project work. We are thankful to our group members,well-wishers for their magnanimous and general help and support made it a relative easier affair. Our heart goes out to our parents who bear with us all the trouble caused to them with smile during the entire study period and beyond.

CHEMPAZHANTHY 28/03/2019



Archa S



Jaiwanth Sunkumar



Nisha Kumari



Reshma R S



Varun Vinay Nair

PREFACE

Table of Contents

INTRODUCTION

INTRODUCTION

A mobile phone may also be known as a cellular phone or simply a cell phone. A mobile phone is a wireless handheld device that allows users to make and recieve calls and to send text messages,among others features.The earliest generation of mobile phones could only make and recieve calls.Today’s mobile phones,however,are packed with many additional features,such as web browsers games,cameras,videoplayers and even navigational systems.

A mobile phone typically operates on a cellular network which is composed of cell sites scattered throughout cities,countrysides and even mountainious regions.If a user happens to be located in an area,where there is no signal from any cell site,belonging to the cellular network provider he or she is subscribed to,calls cannot be placed or recieved in that location.

TELECOM INDUSTRY IN INDIA 

India ranks second in terms of number of telecommunications subscriptions,internet subscribers and app downloads,globally.



With 70 percent of the population staying in rural areas and a telecom penetration of 58.45percent as of july 2018,the rural market would be key growth driver in the coming years.



The government of India unveiled the National Digital Communications Policy 2018, in September 2018. The policy aims to attract US $ 100 billion worth of inverstments and generate 4 million jobs in the sector by 2022.



Telecommunications ratings in the country are expected to start rising within the next two quarters (Q3 and Q4 2018-19) providing higher pricing power to players.



In October 2017, India’s telephone subscriber base reached 1,201.72 million.



In October 2017,the wireless segment

(98.04 percent of total telephone subscriptions)

dominated the market. 

Urban regions accounted for 58.04 percent share in the overall telecom subscriptions in the country ,while rural areas accounted for the remaning share,

HISTORY OF INDIAN TELECOMMUNICATIONS

India's telecommunication network is the second largest in the world by number of telephone users (both fixed and mobile phone) with 1.179 billion subscribers as on 31 July 2018. It has one of the lowest call tariffs in the world enabled by mega telecom operators and hyper-competition among them. As on 31 July 2018, India has the world's second-largest Internet user-base with 460.24 million broadband internet subscribers in the country. As of 31 December 2018, India had a population of 130 crore people (1.3 billion), 123 crore (1.23 billion) Aadhaar digital biometric identity cards, 121 crore (1.21 billion) mobile phones, 44.6 crore (4460 million) smartphones, 56 crore (560 million or 43% of total population) internet users up from 481 million people (35% of the country's total population) in December 2017, and 51 per cent growth in e-commerce.

Major sectors of the Indian telecommunication industry are telephone, internet and television broadcast industry in the country which is in an ongoing process of transforming into next generation network, employs an extensive system of modern network elements such as digital telephone exchanges, mobile switching centres, media gateways and signalling gateways at the core, interconnected by a wide variety of transmission systems using fibre-optics or Microwave radio relay networks. The access network, which connects the subscriber to the core, is highly diversified with different copper-pair, optic-fibre and wireless technologies. DTH, a relatively new broadcasting technology has attained significant popularity in the Television segment. The introduction of private FM has given a fillip to the radio broadcasting in India. Telecommunication in India has greatly been supported by the INSAT system of the country, one of the largest domestic satellite systems in the world. India possesses a diversified communications system, which links all parts of the country by telephone, Internet, radio, television and satellite.

Indian telecom industry underwent a high pace of market liberalisation and growth since the 1990s and now has become the world's most competitive and one of the fastest growing telecom markets. The Industry has grown over twenty times in just ten years, from under 37 million subscribers in the year 2001 to over 846 million subscribers in the year 2011. India has the world's second-largestmobile phone user base with over 1157.04 million users as of July 2018. Telecommunication has supported the socioeconomic development of India and has played a significant role to narrow down the rural-urban digital divide to some extent. It also has helped to increase the transparency of governance with the introduction of e-governancein India. The government has pragmatically used modern telecommunication facilities to deliver mass education programmes for the rural folk of India.

According to London-based telecom trade body GSMA, the telecom sector accounted for 6.5% of India's GDP in 2015, or about 9 lakh crore (US$130 billion), and supported direct employment for 2.2 million people in the country. GSMA estimates that the Indian telecom sector will contribute 14.5 lakh crore (US$200 billion) to the economy and support 3 million direct jobs and 2 million indirect jobs by 2020.

Telecommunications in India began with the introduction of the telegraph. The Indian postal and telecom sectors are one of the worlds oldest. In 1850, the first experimental electric telegraph line was started between Calcutta and Diamond Harbour. In 1851, it was opened for the use of the British East India Company. The Posts and Telegraphs department occupied a small corner of the Public Works Department, at that time.

The construction of 4,000 miles (6,400 km) of telegraph lines was started in November 1853. These connected Kolkata (then Calcutta) and Peshawar in the north; Agra, Mumbai (then Bombay) through Sindwa Ghats, and Chennai (then Madras) in the south; Ootacamund and Bangalore. William O'Shaughnessy, who pioneered the telegraph and telephone in India, belonged to the Public Works Department, and worked towards the development of telecom throughout this period. A separate department was opened in 1854 when telegraph facilities were opened to the public.

In 1880, two telephone companies namely The Oriental Telephone Company Ltd. and The Anglo-Indian Telephone Company Ltd. approached the Government of India to establish telephone exchange in India. The permission was refused on the grounds that the establishment of telephones was a Government monopoly and that the Government itself would undertake the work. In 1881, the Government later reversed its earlier decision and a licence was granted to the Oriental Telephone Company Limited of England for opening telephone exchanges at Calcutta, Bombay, Madras and Ahmedabad and the first formal telephone service was established in the country. On 28 January 1882, Major E. Baring, Member of the Governor General of India's Council declared open the Telephone Exchanges in Calcutta, Bombay and Madras. The exchange in Calcutta named the "Central Exchange" had a total of 93 subscribers in its early stage. Later that year, Bombay also witnessed the opening of a telephone exchange

REDMI BY XIAOMI

Redmi is a sub-brand owned by the Chinese electronics company Xiaomi. It was introduced as a budget smartphone line manufactured by Xiaomi, that was first announced in July 2013.. It became a sub-brand, separated from Xiaomi, on January 10, 2019. Redmi phones use the Xiaomi MIUI user interface on top of Android. Models can be divided into regular Redmi phones with screens usually up to 5" and Redmi Note series with displays exceeding 5". Only phone besides these two series is Redmi Pro, first introduced in 2016 with Dual Camera system, USB-C and unique for Xiaomi devices OLED display. Redmi A have been marketed in several Asian and European countries.The most significant difference from other Xiaomi smartphones is that it uses less-expensive components and thus is more cost-effective. In August 2014, The Wall Street Journal reported that in the second quarter of the 2014 fiscal year Xiaomi smartphone shipment rankings in China with a market share of 14%. Redmi sales were attributed as a contributing factor toward this gain in shipment rankings. The Redmi phone release in 2013 was first announced on Xiaomi's website, with consumer sales beginning on July 12, 2013. On March 13, 2014, Redmi phones were announced to be sold out, in Singapore alone, eight minutes after being purveyed to consumers on Xiaomi's website. Criticism regarding the release of Redmi phones has included the notion that the firm may be exaggerating its sales by releasing them in small batches, causing them to quickly sell out. On August 4, 2014, The Wall Street Journal reported that in China's smartphone market, Xiaomi overtook Samsung in the second-quarter of the 2014 fiscal year with a 14% market share in smartphone shipment rankings, while Samsung had a 12% market share during this time. Additionally, Yulong and Lenovo both had a 12% market share during this time.Redmi sales were attributed as contributing to Xiaomi's increased shipment rankings in the smartphone market. Conversely, in the first-quarter of 2014, Xiaomi held a 10.7% market share. The Redmi Note 3 launched on 24 November 2015, unlike its predecessor, does not have a user-changeable battery or microSD slot. It's based on Mediatek Helio X10 Octa-core 2.0 GHz Cortex-A53 SOC with PowerVR G6200 GPU. The Snapdragon variant of the phone, released later the same year, is based on Snapdragon 650 and has microSD support. In July 2016, Chinese artists - Liu Shishi, Wu Xiubo and Liu Haoran became the first ambassadors of Xiaomi's Redmi series in China.Redmi Pro has appeared as Pro lineup in Redmi series.

On 25 August 2016, Xiaomi unveiled the Redmi Note 4, powered by MediaTek's Helio X20 deca-core processor clocked at 2.1 GHz. The device has 2 GB RAM and 16 GB of internal storage. It has a 5.5-inch Full-HD display and a 13 MP rear camera and 5 MP front camera. It runs on Android 5.1 Lollipop and is powered by a 4,100 mAh battery. In November 2016, Xiaomi released its new budget phone, Redmi 4. It has a polycarbonate body, dual-SIM support and runs on MIUI 8 based on Android 6.0.1 Marshmallow. The Redmi 4 has a 5-inch 720x1280 pixels display, is powered by a 1.4 GHz quad-core processor, and has 2GB of RAM. In January 2017, the Xiaomi Redmi Note 4x based on Qualcomm Snapdragon 625 Chipset became company's first major launch of 2017. It is an upgraded version of the previously released Redmi Note 4 based on the MediaTek Helio X20 chipset. The device is also known as Redmi Note 4 in regions where the original Redmi Note 4 was not released.In December 2017, Xiaomi unveiled the Redmi 5 and 5 Plus. They are the first phones in the Redmi series with an 18:9 screen aspect ratio. The EU release was set to January 2018 and prices were set to €170 for the Redmi 5 and €215 for the Redmi 5 Plus. In February 2018, Xiaomi unveiled the Redmi Note 5 and 5 Pro. They are the first phones from Xiaomi to feature the face unlock. In May 2018, Xiaomi unveiled the Redmi S2.In June 2018, Xiaomi unveiled the Redmi 6, 6A and 6 Pro. The Redmi 6 Pro is the first phone in the Redmi series with a notch similar to the iPhone X and a 19:9 screen aspect ratio.In September 2018, Xiaomi unveiled the Redmi Note 6 Pro. It is the first phone in the Redmi series with four cameras (two cameras on the front and two cameras on the back) and constructed using 6000 series aluminium.

VIVO Vivo Communication Technology Co. Ltd., known as Vivo, is a Chinese technology company owned by BBK Electronics that designs and manufactures smartphones, smartphone accessories, software, and online services, which are then sold in India. The company develops software for its phones, distributed through its Vivo App Store, with iManager included in their proprietary, Android-based operating system, Funtouch OS. With research and development centers in Shenzhen and Nanjing, Vivo employs 1,600 R&D personnel, as of January 2016. History Vivo was founded in 2009, in Dongguan, China, and was named for the Esperanto word for life.[citation needed] In the first quarter of 2015, Vivo was ranked among the top 10 smartphone makers, achieving a global market share of 2.7%. Expansion Since its founding in 2009, Vivo has expanded to over 100 countries around the world. International expansion began in 2014, when the company entered the Thai marketplace.Vivo quickly followed up with launches in India, Indonesia, Malaysia, Myanmar, Philippines, Thailand, and Vietnam. In 2017, Vivo entered the smartphone market in Russia, Sri Lanka, Taiwan, Hong Kong, Brunei, Macau, Cambodia, Laos, Bangladesh, and Nepal.In June 2017, it entered the Pakistan mobile phone market and the Vivo brand is currently experiencing rapid growth in popularity in the country.On 26 November 2017, Vivo entered the Nepali market with its Y53 and Y65 models. Marketing In October 2015, Vivo became the title sponsor of the Indian Premier League under a two-year deal starting in the 2016 season.In July 2017, the deal was extended until 2022. In June 2017, Vivo reached a sponsorship deal with FIFA to become the official smartphone brand of the 2018 and 2022 FIFA World Cups.The company also became a title sponsor of India's Pro Kabaddi. Vivo has a sponsorship deal with the U.S. National Basketball Association in China, with Golden State Warriors player Stephen Curry endorsing the brand in China and the Philippines. The company contracted product placement with Marvel Studios for Captain America: Civil War, in which Vivo phones are used by both Captain America and Iron Man.

SAMSUNG Samsung is a South Korean multinational conglomerate headquartered in Samsung Town, Seoul. It comprises numerous affiliated businesses, most of them united under the Samsung brand, and is the largest South Korean chaebol (business conglomerate). Samsung was founded by Lee Byung-chul in 1938 as a trading company. Over the next three decades, the group diversified into areas including food processing, textiles, insurance, securities, and retail. Samsung entered the electronics industry in the late 1960s and the construction and shipbuilding industries in the mid1970s; these areas would drive its subsequent growth. Following Lee's death in 1987, Samsung was separated into four business groups – Samsung Group, Shinsegae Group, CJ Group and Hansol Group. Since 1990, Samsung has increasingly globalised its activities and electronics; in particular, its mobile phones and semiconductors have become its most important source of income. As of 2017, Samsung has the 6th highest global brand value. Notable Samsung industrial affiliates include Samsung Electronics (the world's largest information technology company, consumer electronics maker and chipmaker measured by 2017 revenues), Samsung Heavy Industries (the world's 2nd largest shipbuilder measured by 2010 revenues),and Samsung Engineering and Samsung C&T (respectively the world's 13th and 36th largest construction companies).Other notable subsidiaries include Samsung Life Insurance (the world's 14th largest life insurance company),Samsung Everland (operator of Everland Resort, the oldest theme park in South Korea) and Cheil Worldwide (the world's 15th largest advertising agency measured by 2012 revenues). Samsung has a powerful influence on South Korea's economic development, politics, media and culture and has been a major driving force behind the "Miracle on the Han River".Its affiliate companies produce around a fifth of South Korea's total exports. Samsung's revenue was equal to 17% of South Korea's $1,082 billion GDP.

ONE PLUS OnePlus is a Chinese smartphone manufacturer based in Shenzhen, China founded by Pete Lau (CEO) and Carl Pei in December 2013. The company officially serves 34 countries and regions around the world as of July 2018. They have released numerous phones, amongst other products. OnePlus was founded on 16 December 2013 by former Oppo vice-president Pete Lau and Carl Pei. According to the Chinese government's documentation, the only institutional stockholder in OnePlus is Oppo Electronics. Lau denied that OnePlus was a wholly-owned subsidiary of Oppo and stated that Oppo Electronics and not Oppo Mobile (the phone manufacturer) is a major investor of OnePlus and that they are "in talks with other investors". The company's main goal was to design a smartphone that would balance high-end quality with a lower price than other phones in its class, believing that users would "Never Settle" for the lower-quality devices produced by other companies. Lau explained that "we will never be different just for the sake of being different. Everything done has to improve the actual user experience in day-to-day use." He also showed aspirations of being the "Muji of the tech industry", emphasizing its focus on high-quality products with simplistic, user-friendly designs. Continuing Lau's association with the platform from the Oppo N1,OnePlus entered into an exclusive licensing agreement with Cyanogen Inc. to base its products' Android distribution upon a variant of the popular custom ROM CyanogenMod and use its trademarks outside of China. The company unveiled its first device, the OnePlus One, on 23 April 2014.In December 2014, alongside the release of the OnePlus One in India exclusively through Amazon, OnePlus also announced plans to establish a presence in the country, with plans to open 25 official walk-in service centres across India. In April 2014, OnePlus hired Han Han as the product ambassador in mainland China. On 9 March 2014, the company expanded its operations to the European Union.As of July 2018, OnePlus serves to the following 34 countries and regions: Australia, Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Canada, China, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hong Kong, Hungary, India, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Spain, Slovakia, Slovenia, Sweden, United Kingdom, and United States. One plus ended the invite system with the launch of One Plus 3 on 14 june 2016. While Oppo and Vivo are focused in creating and maintain themselves as premium offline smart phone brands, One plus aims to deliver their products via online services.

As per the annual report card of 2014 posted by company,they have earned over $300 million revenue in that year. The top regions accounting their sales include East Asia and Europe as they amounted for 39% and 32% sales of their device in 2014.

OPPO Oppo Electronics Corporation, commonly referred to as Oppo, is a Chinese consumer electronics and mobile communications company headquartered in Dongguan, China, known for its smartphones, Blu-ray players and other electronic devices. A leading manufacturer of smartphones, Oppo was the top smartphone brand in China in 2016 and was ranked No. 8 worldwide. The brand name Oppo was registered in China in 2001 and launched in 2004. Since then, they have expanded to all parts of the world.In June 2016, Oppo became the biggest smartphone maker in China, selling its phones at more than 200,000 retail outlets. Korean boy band 2PM prepared a song known as "Follow Your Soul" in a promotional deal with Oppo for launching its brand in Thailand in 2010. In June 2015, the company signed an agreement with FC Barcelona to become an official partner of the Spanish football club. In 2016, PBA tied up with this company as its official smartphone partner starting from 2016 PBA Commissioner's Cup which was held on February 10. Oppo also hires celebrity endorsers in Vietnam, especially Sơn Tùng M-TP who endorses three smartphone units like Neo 5, Neo 7 and F1s. Oppo made a sponsorship to one of Vietnam's top-rated reality shows, The Face Vietnam. In October 2017, Oppo Thailand launched a new ad of Oppo F5 smartphone with a new ad presenter: famous Thai actor, Nadech Kugimiya. Oppo Malaysia also launched a new Oppo F5 smartphone with Fattah Amin and Ayda Jebat as their brand ambassadors. In 2017, Oppo won the bid to sponsor the Indian national cricket team and has achieved the rights to display their logo on the team’s kits from 2017 to 2022. Within this period the Indian national cricket team will play 259 International matches consisting of 62 Tests, 152 ODIs, and 45 T20 Internationals. This number also includes the 2019 World Cup in England and 2020 T20 World Cup in Australia. The current base price for bilateral matches involving India has been set at Rs 4.1 crore (approx.) and for Asian Cricket Council (ACC) and International Cricket Council (ICC) matches, it is Rs 1.56 crore (approx.) - almost a four-fold increase from its earlier rate. Oppo phones are smartphones produced by the Chinese company Oppo. They produce phones in their A series, Find series, F Series, N series and R series. Oppo also produces headphones and Blu-ray players under its Oppo Digital brand.

The Oppo K-Series is the newest addition of smartphones under the brand, consisting of the Oppo K1 which was launched in October 2018. The Oppo F Series are selfie-centered devices in which OPPO used their tagline "Selfie Expert".On 3 August 2016, Oppo launched the F1s in India.[3] The Oppo F1s is a selfie-centric phone which succeeds the Oppo F1. The F1s sports a 13 MP primary camera at the back and has a 16 MP secondary camera on the front. There is a fingerprint scanner housed on the home button which can not only be used to unlock the phone but, open apps as well. The Oppo F1s is powered by MediaTek's MT6750 octa-core processor which is coupled with 3 GB RAM and Mali-T860 MP2 GPU. It runs on ColorOS 3.0 based on Android 5.1 Lollipop and features a 5.5-inch HD IPS display which is backed by 3075 mAh battery. In March 2017, Oppo Release F3 Plus with Dual Selfie Camera (16MP + 8MP Wide Angle Lens) & Oppo F3 Launched 2 Month Later with MediaTek MT6750T Chipset.

OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY

The Primary Objective was to study the perception & buying behavior of students towards various mobile brands.(limited to 5 brands) The secondary Objectives of this study were to identify:  To study consumer motivation for buying a smartphone.  To analyse the consumer preference for brands of smart phone.  To determine whether there is a significant difference between preferences for features of smartphone on the basis of gender.  To find the demographic features of the mobile phone consumers.  To find out the factors which influences the consumers to buy mobile phones.  To study and increase market share and create distance from competition.

LIMITATIONS OF THE STUDY

RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

a. Sampling Technique

b. Research Design

c. Data Collection

PERIOD OF STUDY

DATA ANALYSIS AND INTERPRETATION

QUESTIONNAIRE

Section A Personal Information 1.

Name

:

2.

Age

:

3.

Please Indicate Your Gender

:

4.

Occupation Of Parents

:

i)

Business

ii)

Professionals

iii)

Service

iv)

Others (Specify)

5.

Income Level (per month)

i)

<15000

ii)

15001-25000

iii)

25001-35000

iv)

>35000

6. Education Background i)High School ii)Intermediate iii)Graduate iv)Post Graduate

v)If Other(specify)

Section B

7. Which Mobile Phone Are You Using? i)Redmi ii)Samsung

iii)Oneplus iv)vivo

v) Oppo vi) Others

8. Write the model of your phone :

9. What motivated you to prefer the above mobile phone brand ? i)Advertisement

iii)Own choice

ii)Reference

iv)Others

10. From where have you heard about the above mobile hand set ? i)Newspaper or Magazines

iii)Tele-Media

ii)Friends or colleagues

iv)Others

11.What features would you like to have in your mobile handset? 1.

Camera

2.

Batterylife

3.

Memory(Ram)

4.

Price Range

12.How often do you change your mobile phone? i)Less than 1 year

iii)2-4 years

ii)1-2 years

iv)above 4 years

13.Do you prefer phones to be? i)Slim

iii)Medium

ii)Light

iv)Heavy

14.What would you be willing to pay for a mobile phone? i)Less than 10000

iii)20000 to 30000

ii)10000 to 20000

iv)Any amount

15.Based on your own experience, how would you rate your satisfication with the brand of smartphones? i)Disatisified

iii)Satisfied

ii)Fair

iv)Very satisfied

16.Who bought mobile for you? i)Father

iii)Elder brother/sister

v)Cousins

ii)Mother

iv)Grandfather/mother

vi)Self

17.You consider owing a mobile handset as: (a)Neccessity

(b)Status (C)Luxury

18.You often use your phone to: (a)Call

(b)SMS

(c)Wap(mobile internet)

(d)MMS

19.Have you ever thought of negitive effects of mobile phones? (a)Yes

(b)No

20.Is the design of mobile phone important for you ? (a)Yes,of course

(b)I dont care

(c)Not at all

21.Would you classify internet as a important part of mobile phone? (a)Yes

(b)No

22.How far are you located from a service point? (a)Less than 1km

(b)1-5km

(c)Greater than 5km

23.Which mode of payment do your parents prefer while purchasing phone? i)Cash iii)Paytm

ii)EMI iv)Debit/Credit card

24.Are you satisfied with your handset?

(a)Satisfied

(b)Normal

(c)Dissatisfied