Samsung says expects $4 billion in Indian sales of new smartphone range

NEW DELHI: Korean major Samsung is taking another step in a bid to reclaim its lost crown from its Chinese rival Xiaomi by planning a multi-channel focused handset series, which is expected to contribute $4 billion (over Rs 28,000 crore) in sales by the end of 2019.“We are now creating a whole portfolio for the A series, which we will be launching from March. Till June, we will launch phones every month," Ranjiv Singh, senior vice president, mobile marketing, Samsung India, told ET.Samsung's new A series of smartphones will be targeted at ‘millennials’, and will see launches of multiple smartphones priced between Rs 10,000 and Rs 50,000, which will be available across offline channels and all major online platforms, including its own ecommerce site, helping the company drive volumes. The multi-channel series launch by Samsung follows the recent tightening of the FDI policy in ecommerce that kicked in on February 1, which backs a varied retail channel approach.“Our mission is to make it a $4-billion brand for a single series this year in India,” he said, adding that the series will be a key volume and value driver across the channels and across regions for Samsung.Fighting Chinese competitors such as Xiaomi, Oppo and Vivo with lower priced phones saw Samsung India’s net profit fall by as much as 11% to Rs 3,712.7 crore but revenue grew by 10% to touch Rs 61,065 crore in FY18. The world’s largest handset maker continued the pace of sales growth seen in its mobile phone business in India, growing 9% to touch Rs 37,349 crore, maintaining its revenue lead in the Indian smartphone market. It though has slipped behind market leader Xiaomi for nearly a year now in terms of shipments.“The series will add to the overall topline and market share... It will serve the entire portfolio and will become India's biggest brand of a single name series in 2019. That's our ambition,” Singh added.Tarun Pathak, associate director at Counterpoint Research, said this multi-brand strategy isn’t easy for brands to pull off.“It's a strategy not many players tasted success with in the past but vertically integrated players like Huawei, Oppo and now Samsung can make the most of it. As consolidation has set in and new multi brands can be used to target specific channels, consumer group or specific product segments," Pathak said.Prabhu Ram, head, industry intelligence group at market research firm CyberMedia Research, added that Samsung has been aggressively making moves in India this year to reclaim its lost leadership mantle.“With its recent M series, that was online focused, Samsung took the first steps towards consolidating its presence online catering to millennials. With the A series, Samsung would be looking to capitalise on its traditional strengths of offline retail channels,” he added.Samsung’s offline channel comprises 180,000 retail outlets and 2,000 brand stores.Some of the A series phone are set to clash with the recently launched M series phones. Singh, however, said Samsung wants to spoil its customers for choice even as one series is available just online. “We want to offer whatever serves their need,” he added.

from Economic Times http://bit.ly/2IbhkSc

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