Samsung is gearing up to flex its brand muscle as the 5G smartphone market expands in India. While Samsung has smartphones across all price points– be it under Rs 10,000 or above Rs 1 lakh– Samsung is now eyeing 40% share in the smartphone market between Rs 20,000 and Rs 45,000 in 2022.
Aditya Babbar, Senior Director& Head of Marketing, Samsung India in an interaction with Debashis Sarkar of News18 Tech shared how Samsung India is positioning itself to win in the highly competitive mobile market in India, which is already seeing some saturation.
“We are focusing on providing an improved overall experience and not just focusing on some aspects like hardware specifications. Right from helping buyers with easy financing options to providing extended software updates, we will be providing a differentiated experience,” said Babbar.
Keeping aside the corporate jargon, the focus for Samsung is simple: make it clear to buyers that 5G smartphones from Samsung will easily last till the time 5G connectivity rolls out across major cities across India.
So, what’s new that Samsung is doing this time? For starters, Samsung is promising to provide a minimum of 4 years of security updates. Not just that, Samsung is also claiming that it will provide at least two Android upgrades. This means, most Samsung smartphones will get all the latest Android features (or OneUI features) for two years and these phones will be safe to use for another two years, thanks to a total of 4 years of security updates.
Also read: Samsung Launches 5 New Galaxy A Series Smartphones: All Details Of Galaxy A13, A23, A33 5G, A53 5G And A73 5G
For some premium devices like the new Galaxy A73 5G and Galaxy A53 5G, Samsung says that it will provide 4 Android upgrades and 5 years of security updates.
“Catering to different price points, we will continue to launch 4G and 5G-enabled smartphones. Another key thing that we are doing, in terms of software, is that we will be providing flagship features across our portfolio,” said Babbar. This means, if you buy a mid-range Samsung Galaxy A series phone you can expect to get camera features available in the flagship Galaxy S22 series.
Samsung has just launched five new Galaxy A series smartphones Galaxy A13, A23, A33 5G, A53 5G And A73 5G in India. These phones are spread across the entire budget to mid-range price points. What’s interesting is that Samsung is now offering a mix of Qualcomm Snapdragon and Exynos chipsets in its Galaxy A series portfolio.
One of the major criticisms has been the fact that Samsung phones did not come with Qualcomm Snapdragon chipsets, which are perceived by the general public as ‘more powerful’ and ‘cooler’ compared to similarly configured Exynos-branded chipsets. Samsung, in a way got rid of this ‘perception problem’ by launching the Galaxy S22 series in India with the Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 chip. And now, there’s enough choice for the buyers to opt for mid-range Samsung phones with Qualcomm Snapdragon chipsets.
After software and hardware, Samsung is also focusing on the overall durability in its phones by adding at least IP67 dust and water resistance rating to almost all phones above Rs 20,000. And as far as 5G support is concerned, Samsung claims that its smartphones support the widest range of 5G bands in India and globally.
In its strategy to reach more buyers, Samsung is also making it easier to buy its smartphones with easy financing while providing discounts. “Be it offline or online, Samsung phones will be available across all channels. As far as credit financing is concerned, there are hardly any rejections,” said Babbar while commenting on balancing offline and online sales channels.
The under Rs 45,000 segment is the bulk of the entire smartphone market in India and 40% does sound like a huge number to achieve. “The pandemic has changed the smartphone market and people are willing to spend more money as they are spending more time on smartphones. As people are spending more time on their phones they are becoming more conscious about newer camera and display features along with newer specifications. People are now demanding better features and this is what is ultimately increasing the costs of smartphones,” he added while talking about the increase in smartphone prices, especially due to the global chip shortage.
Also read: Samsung Galaxy S22+ Review: This Raises the Bar for Android Flagship Smartphones In 2022
Extended software upgrades, easy financing, easy availability across all sales channels, flagship features in affordable phones and durable design– these are Samsung’s key areas of focus to drive growth in 2022.
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