Samsung Mobile has always kept its pace with the changing market demand and varied customer needs. Positioned as next in technology with the tagline ?Next is What?, Samsung is focusing on enriching its product portfolio across segments. It has established a strong foothold over the Indian market not just in mobile handsets but also equally in consumer electronic goods. Sunil Dutt, Samsung country head (mobile division) spoke to Nikita Upadhyay on the growing focus in the rural markets and the company?s R&D efforts. Excerpts:
What role does India play in Samsung?s overall business approach?
We already have 12 3G enabled handsets in our portfolio. We are awaiting the private operators to roll-out the 3G services to offer affordable handsets. We will continue to invest in our R&D centres at Noida and Bangalore. Samsung invests around 8% of its global revenues in R&D. We are really excited about India as a market and the kind of growth we have seen here. Samsung never discloses its region-wise market share but having said this, we acquire early double digits as market share in the country and is second largest among the country?s handset manufacturers. Samsung Electronics India constitutes 2% to the company?s global revenues.
What is the companys? medium-term target?
I took over the company in December 2007. In 2008, our target was to double our revenues and market shares. We did accomplish that. This year, we have set a goal to double our numbers and so far, we have been on track with our commitments. This, in turn, has resulted in a positive buzz within the company. We focused on our regional distribution channel which caters to around 70% of our product volume. We have recently tied-up with Bharti Airtel and IFFCO to tap Indian rural markets.
How does Samsung stand out as a brand in a highly competitive market space?
Samsung has always been engaged in constant innovation. The innovation is a result of a continuous study of customer needs. For example, we were the first to come up with the flash light in a mobile that would last for up to 40 hours. Other such innovations relevant to India have been inclusion on Indian prayers, ?Hinglish? messages, Indian ring tones, Indian calendar and so on. Also if you look at our recent launches, one would say that we have just not innovated our product but also made it affordable with retaining and enhancing its rich functionalities. Aamir Khan has been our brand ambassador since 2008 and we feel he reaches out very well to our customers.
How Samsung keeps pace with the changing market dynamics?
We have been known as a brand that connects with our customers. Touch-screen phones have been the current market craze. To supplement the needs, we already have 8 touch screen phones in our portfolio. Also, Samsung has a range of handsets enriched with multimedia functionalities which are most sought by the youth segment. The youth has been the fastest growing segment, and so is the enterprise segment. To cater to the enterprise segment we have developed Samsung Jet which has an application processor of 800 MHz which is the fastest full touch handset in the market today. We have been expanding our distribution channels. Going ahead we will also continue to invest in consumer insights.