New Indian mobile phone manufacturers are causing a shakeup in the local market, with emerging players capturing nearly a third of shipments in Q2.

The 35 companies classed emerging vendors captured nearly twice as much of the market as new players did in Q4 of 2009, when there were 28 companies classified as emerging vendors, IDC said.

The influx of new brands stimulated a spurt in the overall market, which grew by 6.3% to 38.6 million units. Uniquely, over 38% of phones shipped were multi-SIM phones.

Nokia retained the top spot with 36.3% of shipments, with Samsung in second, China's G'Five in third, and Indian vendors Micromax and Spice in fourth and fifth.

But the top handset makers have lost an estimated 11% of their market share to new players, according to Tonse Telecom analyst Sridhar Pai.

In the past two months, Micromax has attracted a $43 million capital infusion, Bharti Airtel launched its own line of 3G phones under its terminal brand Beetel, and Huawei announced it would launch 20 or more phones in India, he said.

The UAE's Etisalat is angling to buy a controlling stake in Kuwaiti telco Zain.

Etisalat is in direct talks with shareholders that own a combined 46% of the company over buying their entire stakes, sources told Bloomberg. This would give Etisalat a controlling majority, as about 10% of Zain's shares are held as treasury stock.

The shareholders are thought to include the Kharafi family, who hold nearly a quarter of the company, and other investors associated with them, FT.com said.

Etisalat has offered 1.7 Kuwaiti dinars per share. The value of the entire 46% stake has been alternatively reported as $10.5 billion and $12 billion.

In separate statements, Etisalat has confirmed it made a conditional offer while Zain's board said it was not aware of a deal, meaning Etisalat took the deal directly to shareholders.

Etisalat has more than 100 million customers across 18 countries in the Middle East, Africa and Asia. But it derives around 85% of its income from its UAE operations, and wants to reduce its reliance on the increasingly saturated market.