Samsung seeks to consolidate leadership in India's refrigerator mkt, eyes small towns, rural markets

South Korean consumer electronics major Samsung is betting on India's small towns and rural areas to consolidate its position as the leader in the country's refrigerator market, a senior company official said on Wednesday. The company, which on Wednesday introduced its 2020 refrigerator line up for India, including one that can prepare curd, is banking on innovations and hiked capacity in entry-level refrigerators to increase its overall market share to 35 percent this year from 33.9 percent last year.

"We find that there are a lot of opportunities to be present in the addressable market (in India) with low penetration (of refrigerators) in tier III and tier IV (markets)," Samsung India Senior Vice President, Consumer Electronics Business, Raju Pullan told PTI. The overall penetration of refrigerators in India is 33 percent and frost-free penetration will be at about 18-20 percent, he added.

In its 2020 line up, Samsung has introduced a five-star rated direct cool single door refrigerator with new 2020 energy norms with capacity increased to 198 liters from 192 liters earlier. The line up is priced between Rs 17,990 to Rs 45,990. "For the first time ever Samsung's launch (in India) is in frost-free and also indirect cool refrigerators with innovations and capacity. That's what consumers there want. The first thing that a consumer in tier II, III and IV wants is the capacity," he said.

Convenience, storage space, and energy efficiency are the key features consumers look for in a refrigerator and Samsung's 2020 range addresses all these needs, he said, adding that the new range of refrigerators would further strengthen its market leadership. "We want to expand the market. Therefore we find a very large scope because of the very low penetration to drive this segment of products," Pullan said.

Claiming that Samsung became the number one in the overall refrigerator market in India in the second half of last year, he said, "Our intent this year is to consolidate and take a dominant leadership position in the refrigerator category." As per industry estimates, the Indian refrigerator market is valued at around Rs 21,000 crore with LG, Whirlpool, Godrej and Haier the other players in the top five.

"Our objective (for 2020) is that from the current 33.9 percent market share, with these new launches we move up to 35 percent," Pullan said, adding that the company is looking at 32 percent market share in a direct cool segment from 28 percent at present. In frost-free, he said Samsung is targeting 45 percent market share, up from 42.6 percent currently, while the target in the side-by-side segment is 50 percent, up from 48.3 percent at present, he said.

(This story has not been edited by Devdiscourse staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)