Samsung Electronics is targeting to generate revenue of $4 billion in 2019 from the sale of Galaxy A series smartphones in India, Reuters reported.
Samsung is the number two smartphone brand in India – behind Xiaomi. Samsung shipped 6.8 million smartphones in Q4 2018. Xiaomi shipped 10.5 million smartphones in the fourth quarter of 2018, retaining its number position in India.
The South Korean giant will unveil one smartphone from the Galaxy A series every month beginning in March, through June, Ranjivjit Singh, Samsung India’s chief marketing officer, said.
The latest IDC research report said Samsung has shipped 31.9 million smartphones in 2018 for 22.4 percent share in the Indian smartphone market. Xiaomi shipped 41.1 million units of smartphones in India to grab 28.9 percent share.
Samsung will price Galaxy A series smartphones between Rs 10,000 ($141) to Rs 50,000 ($703).
“We’re talking about sales in the range of $4 billion in this year, in terms of just the Galaxy A series,” Ranjivjit Singh said.
Samsung’s mobile phone sales in India hit 373.5 billion rupees in the financial year to end-March 2018, according to regulatory filings sourced by paper.vc, a business intelligence platform.
India, the world’s second-biggest mobile phone market, will be among the first few markets where new A series phones, comprising more than four devices, will be launched, Ranjivjit Singh said.
India has more than a billion wireless subscribers and roughly 350 million users are still on basic feature phones.
Samsung uses its research and development center in Bengaluru, Sasmung’s biggest such unit outside South Korea, to drive innovations for the local market.
Samsung, which locally assembles all phones it sells in India, ended 2018 with 24 percent share of the Indian market by shipments, behind Xiaomi’s 28 percent, according to Hong Kong-based tech researcher Counterpoint.
IDC said Xiaomi’s Redmi 5A and Redmi Note 5/Pro series emerged as the fastest selling devices of 2018 across brands driving 10 million shipments each in the entire year. The Chinese phone brand led the online channel with 47.2 percent, climbing to the second slot in the offline channel by beating Vivo in Q4 2018.
Last month Samsung launched a budget smartphone series in India, which it sells online through Amazon India and its own website, ahead of a global launch.
The IDC report said the newly-launched Galaxy A7 (2018) with triple cameras picked up demand in Q4 2018 followed by its Android Go model, the Galaxy J2 Core. The brand is expected to make a comeback with its new online exclusive “M series” to be made available in February 2019 via flash sales.
Samsung Electronics, which will launch new smartphones in India on February 20, opened the world’s biggest mobile phone manufacturing plant on the outskirts of New Delhi as well as its biggest mobile phone store globally in Bengaluru in 2018.
