The number of social media users in India will reach 45 million in 2012, up from about 30 million in 2010, according to market research firm Research and Markets.
“The introduction of 3G in India along with the rising sales of smartphones has led social media to emerge as an important platform in the online community in the country,” the firm said in its report, “Opportunities in the Indian Telecom Social Media Market.”
Factors such as a burgeoning number of tech-savvy young people and customer-centric schemes from service providers are driving the growth of the social media in telecom space, the report said.
“Social networking accounts for the major share in the social media space amid more inclination of users towards these sites and attractive schemes launched by the service providers. Hence, the report primarily focuses on the opportunities provided by the social networking segment,” the report said.
According to the report, a major share of social media users belong to the Tier II and III cities of India because of the increasing penetration of broadband and smartphones, creating opportunities for service providers.
“In the highly competitive telecom sector in India, currently, Tata Docomo has the largest presence in the social media space. Due to its wide reach and creative social media strategies, the company is popularly known as a Child of Social Media,” the report said.
The report also said that social media gaming is another area which is expected to grow in future among all the segments of the social media market.
“This has led several foreign players such as Zynga Game Network Inc. to enter India to tap the opportunities in this segment. Consequently, this has generated interest among the service providers,” the report said.
