Buyers of Samsung’s Galaxy S series of premium smartphones will have to shell out close to Rs 1.18 lakh to get their hands on the top-end model of the device that starts selling in India from March 8. Samsung had launched three models – Galaxy S10+, Galaxy S10, and Galaxy S10e – in San Francisco on February 20. These flagship devices will compete head-on with Apple’s iPhone that is seeing sales slowdown in many markets, including China. “Galaxy S10+ will be available in 1 TB, 512GB and 128 GB storage variants and will be priced at Rs 1,17,900, Rs 91,900 and Rs 73,900, respectively,” Samsung said in its statement.
The new phones include features like cinematic Infinity-O display, enhanced camera capabilities, and in-display fingerprint scanner among others, Samsung said. However, the South Korean tech giant did not disclose if the keenly awaited Galaxy Fold – which boasts of a 7.3-inch “foldable display” – will make its way to the Indian market. The 5G-enabled Galaxy Fold is slated to be available in the US towards April-end, starting at USD 1,980.
The Galaxy S10, on the other hand, will retail for Rs 84,900 (512 GB variant) and Rs 66,900 (128 GB), it added. The Galaxy S10e would be available in only 128 GB storage variant and will be priced at Rs 55,900. Samsung had launched its previous generation (S9 and S9+) in March last year for Rs 57,900 onwards.
India’s premium smartphone segment (priced above Rs 30,000) witnessed an 8 percent growth in 2018, with Samsung leading the shipment chart with 34 percent market share, as per Counterpoint Research. In the Indian market, China’s OnePlus has emerged as strong competition in the said category. In December quarter, OnePlus led the premium smartphone shipment chart with 36 percent market share. It had 33 percent share for the entire 2018. Apple had a share of 23 percent of the segment in 2018.
