Samsung India targets 13% growth, eyes mid-range segment boost amidst elections
Despite a flat, zero-growth mobile market in 2023, Samsung’s India leadership expressed confidence in beating the industry average and clocking growth of over 13% in 2024. According to Samsung India, this growth would be driven by the mid-range segment, where it clocked a 73% growth rate in 2023.
The Senior VP of Mobiles of Samsung India, Raju Antony Pullan, spoke to CNBC-TV18 at the
launch of the Galaxy A35 5G and Galaxy A55 5G
smartphones and expressed his confidence in the devices priced at between ₹30,999 to ₹42,999. Pullan believes that the market is ripe with opportunity, with people looking to upgrade entry-level devices to this segment.
Samsung is looking to capture the market of people looking to upgrade, by introducing flagship-like features in the Galaxy A35 5G and Galaxy A55 5G. The company is hoping that features like Gorilla Glass protection, AI-enhanced cameras, and advanced security features will attract buyers.
Speaking on the demand across the portfolio, Pullan noted that upcoming elections could have an influence. He observed that the market is seeing a spurt in the consumption of content. He remarked that with strategic launches to cater to the spike in data consumption, the election could play the role of a tailwind for the industry.
He also lays thrust on the role played by small cities and towns in driving sales. He shared that for Samsung, the smaller towns and cities were clocking sales that were 1.4 times the sales seen in larger cities. With this in mind, Pullan revealed a strategy of ensuring an increase in the number of touchpoints for customers, to cater to this demand.
According to Counterpoint Research, Samsung topped the smartphone market in India in 2023 with an 18% share, for the first time since 2017. The research firm believes that a huge chunk of this growth was driven by the strong performance of the Galaxy A series, aggressive offline marketing, and a focused approach in the premium segment.
