Samsung India aims to make Galaxy A series a $4-bn brand

South Korean giant Samsung which ended 2018 at second place with a 22.4 per cent share in the India smartphone market is gearing up to launch one Galaxy A smartphone every month -- beginning March till June -- and aims to make Galaxy 'A' a $4-billion brand in the country, a top company executive said on Thursday. The price range of the all new Galaxy A smartphones will be between Rs 10,000 and Rs 50,000 -- practically taking on every Chinese smartphone maker in India, from Xiaomi to OnePlus. Chinese brand Xiaomi with a 28.9 per cent market share led the Indian smartphone market in 2018.

"Starting March, we will launch one new Galaxy A every month in the first half of 2019. We want to make Galaxy A series a $4-billion brand in India this year," Ranjivjit Singh, Chief Marketing Officer and Senior Vice President, Samsung India, told IANS. "Galaxy A is meant for Gen Z and young millennials. India is one of the first few markets where the all-new Galaxy A will be launched," said Singh.

According to Tarun Pathak, Associate Director at Counterpoint Research, eventually everything goes down to product comparison around the current Indian market where $150 is a sweet spot. "For anything above that demands a dedicated portfolio targeting specific users, channels and price points. Samsung with 'A' series would like to target users who are willing to upgrade and spend beyond the current sweet spot of the market," Pathak told IANS.

Samsung led the premium smartphone segment in India in 2018 with a 34 per cent share, followed closely by OnePlus at 33 per cent which was the best-selling device of the year, said Counterpoint Research in its recent report. Samsung captured 26 per cent share of the premium segment and its shipments grew 72 per cent (YoY) in Q4 2018.

However China-based Xiaomi, Vivo, Realme and OPPO emerged among the top five smartphone vendors in terms of market share in Q4 2018 in the country, according to the International Data Corporation (IDC). Singh said the newly-launched Galaxy M series has also received a good response in the affordable and mid-price segment. "It's a really exciting time for us. We got off to a really good start with the M series. The market has given us a tremendous response," Singh noted.

Samsung last month launched the M10 and M20 and is now slated to unveil the M30 smartphone this month at a starting price of Rs 14,990. "Going forward, we expect brands to consolidate their positions by driving multi-channel and aggressive product strategies in a bid to target users beyond Tier-2 and Tier-3 cities," said Anshika Jain, Research Analyst at Counterpoint Research.

India is the second largest smartphone market in the world after China. It has just surpassed 430 million smartphone users.