Samsung wants to grow its online presence in the entry-level segment of smartphones.
While Samsung is still one of most predominant smartphone brands in India, it won’t be long before some other company takes its place. And by some other company, we mean Xiaomi. Not to exaggerate, but the Chinese manufacturer has witnessed a significant rise in popularity in India over the past few years. Especially in the budget segment, Xiaomi phones sell like hotcakes. Samsung, on the other hand, has never focused so much on the entry-level smartphones.
However, it seems like things are about to change. According to a new report by ET, Samsung is working on a new series of smartphones to take on Xiaomi. Aggressively priced between Rs. 5,000 to Rs. 15,000, the smartphones will be available for purchase only on online platforms. Basically, the company wants to take up the same strategy that Xiaomi follows in India.
Some of may know that Samsung’s Galaxy On series of smartphones are online exclusive as well. However, the company now wants to launch more smartphones that will be online exclusive. On the flip side, it has a solid offline presence with lakhs of retail stores across India. In comparison, Xiaomi started its journey in the country as an online-only brand. It was only recently when the company opened physical Mi Stores in select cities in India.
While Samsung wants to increase its online presence, the company doesn’t want to switch its focus completely from its established offline stores. «Samsung wants to extend its lead with Xiaomi which is possible by expanding e-commerce sales while consolidating its presence in offline channels. It will ensure that the 1.5 lakh brick-and-mortar stores selling its handsets are not neglected since Samsung knows it will take time for Xiaomi to build such a vast offline network,» a company executive was quoted as saying to the publication.
The South Korean tech giant has also reduced the number of trade partners from 10-12 to 2-3 in each region for fulfilling online orders. «The layers of distribution for online sales are also being cut to ensure margins are better controlled, which can be passed for aggressive pricing,» the report quotes another executive.
As of now, this is pretty much everything we know. Hopefully, more details will come to light in the days to come. It also remains to be seen whether Samsung gets successful in its endeavor.
