Samsung, the Korean smartphone maker, is one of the top companies in terms of market share in the Indian smartphone industry. However, in recent years Samsung has seen a sharp decline in demand for its entry-level smartphone, particularly priced at about ₹10,000. While the company has revealed smartphones in Galaxy A, M and F series even throughout this year, the latest reports suggest that the Korean company will soon stop manufacturing these devices in India.
Latest reports suggest that Samsung will stop the production of smartphones in the entry-level category in India in the upcoming few months. One report has pinpointed the last production month to be December in 2022. Also, only the smartphones below ₹15,000 will be stopped from being manufacturing in India. However, the batch released in the market will be available for Indian customers to buy throughout the next year. Samsung will also cater to the demands of consumers by providing adequate support for the faulty smartphones in this range until the category completely disappears from the Indian market.
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The Korean major has suffered a massive setback in the last couple of years in the feature phone market. Samsung has lost a lot of its market share to Itel and Lava to slip to the 3rd place in the pecking order. Earlier, Samsung was the market leader in this range. Currently, the company has only a 12% share in the entry-level smartphone market as of March 2022. Samsung generated about 20% of its sales from this range. Its exit will open up the market for homegrown Indian smartphone makers such as Lava which has already risen to the spot of number two in the entry-level smartphone market.
Samsung will solely focus on increasing its share in India’s medium and premium range smartphones. The company is expected to grow in double digits in these particular segments. In the last quarter, Samsung has registered more sales than Xiaomi for smartphones priced above ₹15,000. The Korean company’s market share in this segment increased to 22% at the end of the last quarter. Regarding 5G selling smartphones, Samsung has retained the top position for the past six months.
A primary reason cited for Samsung’s exit from the feature phone market is the PLI scheme adopted by the government of India. Under this scheme, only local smartphone makers will receive concessions and other incentives from the government to produce devices costing less than ₹15,000. Like other global brands, Samsung had lost its privileges in the entry-level smartphone market, which pushed the company to ultimately decide to exit this range and abandon the production altogether.
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