Mobile handset sales in India to touch 231 million units in 2012

Mobile handset sales in India, the world's second-biggest wireless services market, are expected to grow an annual 8.5 percent and reach 231 million units in 2012, technology researcher Gartner said on Tuesday.

"The big global brands will continue to face competition from local and Chinese brands as some of these brands are building capabilities to compete at a larger level covering broader consumer segments," Anshul Gupta, principal research analyst at Gartner, said in the statement.

For the three months to September, smartphone sales were 6 percent of the total device sales, Gartner said, and expected the share to go up to 8 percent in 2012.