After losing market share to Xiaomi, Samsung India eyes to sell $6 Bn worth phones in 2018

Samsung is leaving no stone unturned to maintain its leadership position in India. After losing marketshare to Xiaomi and others, it has now set a target to sell mobile phones worth $6 billion this calendar year.

The company, which clocked revenues of $5.3 billion in the last financial year, is also aiming to total target worth $10 billion of sales in India in 2018 through handsets, premium television and home.

Samsung’s overall revenue from India stood at about $9 billion last year. Of the overall business, mobile phones sales accounted about 60 per cent.

To sell more mobile phones, the South Korean tech giant is gearing up the expansion of smartphones range. In January, it launched two back-to-back handsets -- Galaxy A8+ and Galaxy On7 Prime.

The company will launch six to eight smartphones this year to continue the same legacy as introduced in 2017 with reasonable prices.

While Samsung is ahead in terms of revenue, it has been losing market share in smartphones to Chinese rivals. According to the International Data Corporation (IDC), Chinese phone-maker, Xiaomi emerged as the market leader and accounted about 24 per cent of India’s smartphone market in the third quarter while Samsung also controls 24 percent of the market.

Also Read: Xiaomi plans to surpass Samsung via offline sales

In feature phone market, Mukesh Ambani-led Reliance Jio also outrun Samsung in the last year December quarter and captured 26 per cent. Samsung remains at number two position with 17 per cent share, followed by Micromax and Nokia.

Commenting on the recent reports, Asim Warsi, global vice president of Samsung India has said that the online smartphone market has grown to 35 to 40 per cent in India. The recent reports neglecting the online market and sharing only offline track numbers.

While Xiaomi also aims to open 100 Mi Home stores by mid-2019 in India and plans to add more preferred partner stores—multi-brand outlets that stock largely Xiaomi products.

In November last year, Xiaomi and Bengaluru-based retailer Sangeetha Mobiles were looking to acquire the stores of Essar Group’s cellphone retail venture.

The Beijing-based company is planning to replicate its China model in India, as it aims to emerge as an Internet company by monetising services such as finance and entertainment. Besides phones, it’s planning to sell the EVs, apparels, lifestyle products, and toys in India.

The story was first reported by ET.