With the expansion of the 5G smartphone market in India, Samsung is gearing up to increase the strength of its brand. While Samsung has smartphones at all price points – be it under Rs 10,000 or over Rs 1 lakh – Samsung is now eyeing a 40% share in the smartphone market in 2022 between Rs 20,000 and Rs 45,000.
Aditya Babbar, Senior Director and Head of Marketing, Samsung India, in conversation with Debashish Sarkar of News18 Tech, explains how Samsung India is in a winning position in the highly competitive mobile market in India, which is already seeing some saturation.
“We are focused on providing a better overall experience and not just focusing on certain aspects like hardware specifications. From helping buyers with easy financing options to providing extended software updates, we will provide a different experience,” said Babbar.
Putting aside the corporate jargon, Samsung’s focus is simple: Make it clear to buyers that 5G smartphones from Samsung will run smoothly until 5G connectivity rolls out in major cities across India.
So, what is Samsung doing this time? For starters, Samsung is promising to provide at least 4 years of security updates. Not only this, 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 the next two years, thanks to a total of 4 years of security updates.
For some premium devices like the new Galaxy A73 5G and Galaxy A53 5G, Samsung says it will provide 4 Android upgrades and 5 years of security updates.
“Meeting various price points, we will continue to launch 4G and 5G-enabled smartphones. Another important thing that we are doing in terms of software is that we will be providing key features in our portfolio,” Babbar said. This means, if you buy a mid-range Samsung Galaxy A series phone, you can expect the camera feature to be available on the flagship Galaxy S22 series.
Samsung recently launched five new Galaxy A series smartphones Galaxy A13, A23, A33 5G, A53 5G and A73 5G in India. These phones span the entire budget to mid-range price point. Interestingly, 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 were perceived by the general public as ‘more powerful’ and ‘cooler’ than the similarly configured Exynos-branded chipsets. goes. Samsung has sort of got rid of this ‘perception problem’ by launching the Galaxy S22 series with Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 chip in India. And now, buyers have ample options to choose from mid-range Samsung phones with Qualcomm Snapdragon chipset.
After software and hardware, Samsung is also focusing on overall durability in its phones by adding at least IP67 dust and water resistance ratings to almost all phones above Rs 20,000. And as far as 5G support is concerned, Samsung claims that its smartphones support a wider range of 5G bands in India and globally.
In its strategy to reach out to more buyers, Samsung is making it easier to buy its smartphones with easy financing while offering discounts. “Be it offline or online, Samsung phones will be available across all channels. As far as credit financing is concerned, there is hardly any rejection,” Babbar said while commenting on balancing offline and online sales channels.
The under Rs 45,000 segment constitutes the bulk of the entire smartphone market in India and 40% seems like a huge number to achieve. “The pandemic has transformed 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 aware about new camera and display features along with new specifications. People are now demanding better features and this is ultimately increasing the cost of smartphones,” he said while talking about the increase in smartphone prices, especially due to global chip shortage.
Also Read: Samsung Galaxy S22+ Review: It Raises The Bar For Android Flagship Smartphones In 2022
Expanded software upgrades, easy financing, easy availability across all sales channels, key features in affordable phones and sustainable designs – these are Samsung’s key areas to drive growth in 2022.
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