Today?s business requires exceptional levels of agility. Enterprises need to respond and adapt quickly to changes in the marketplace, feels Ranjit Yadav, country head?Samsung Mobile & IT. He tells Sudhir Chowdhary that Samsung?s growth strategy continues to hinge on addressing consumer requirements with a rich portfolio of devices that rank high on innovation, user experience and functionality. Excerpts:
Share with us the mantra for success and key initiatives undertaken to succeed here.
We are a full range player in the Indian market and our portfolio ranges across the essential, multimedia, touchscreen, dual SIM and smartphones to tablets and the Galaxy Note as a new category. At Samsung, we seek to provide our consumers with highly innovative products that
provide superior value to our customers and are highly differentiated.
Beyond devices, our endeavour is to provide consumers with India-relevant applications for our smartphones. We are also working on providing Java-based apps on our feature phones.
How has Samsung tried to differentiate itself from other players in the mobile handsets market?
Consumers are looking at buying mobile devices that will
empower them with more capabilities while on the move. Samsung India understands what the consumers want. We are offering a range of smartphones across multiple platforms?across Windows platform, its own proprietary ?bada? OS and
Android platforms? priced between R3,000 to R34,990 per unit. Samsung has created a developer ecosystem in India, wherein Indian developers are being encouraged to create apps customised for the Indian market.
How important is India for Samsung from a global perspective?
For Samsung, India is a top strategic market and our commitment is endorsed by the investments we have made here over the last several years both in terms of offering our full range of products and building our manufacturing and research capabilities in the country. Business users are increasingly utilising not just smartphones but also converged devices like the Galaxy Tab to stay connected and manage their work while on the go. Samsung is hoping to further grow this business segment. With the growing use of smartphones in the business environment, Samsung will continue to create new network of applications specific to the enterprise community and we will continue to build excitement in the
marketplace by introducing new and innovative products across segments.
How has the market responded to Galaxy Note?
Galaxy Note seeks to define a new category in the mobile industry. Based on its unique combination of connected and creative freedom, Samsung Galaxy Note redefines and enhances the mobile communication by offering a more
advanced, productive and creative user experience than ever before.
Tell us something about Samsung manufacturing and R&D operations in India?
The mobile manufacturing unit at Noida is Samsung?s sixth overseas manufacturing unit in the world. The company is manufacturing multimedia, dual SIM, touchcreen and smartphone models at the facility; the facility provides employment to around 4,000 people.
Samsung India is operating two R&D centres at Noida and Bangalore to support its business operations. Samsung India Software Operations, the Bangalore R&D centre develops protocol and platform software for mobiles. Indian R&D engineers work with their global counterparts to develop leading edge solutions and products for Samsung, in areas such as 4G and LTE. In fact, the Bangalore R&D centre is Samsung?s largest overseas R&D centre for mobiles. As the Indian market grows, the Samsung India R&D is developing localised solutions for handsets that are customised to the
Indian market requirements.
What are your future plans to enhance Samsung?s presence in India?
2012 will be a year where converged devices and martphones will lead the industry to new growth levels. With a robust range of smartphones, tablets and the recent addition of Samsung Galaxy Note, we are well positioned to strengthen our market share in India. We have recently launched the first ever dual SIM smartphones in the Indian market?the Galaxy Ace Duos, Galaxy Y Pro Duos and Galaxy Y Duos. Dual SIM
devices are expected to contribute 25% of all smartphone volumes for Samsung.