Samsung has been busy the past few months. The launch of the high-end Galaxy S series – which Pullan says it did well – was followed by multiple launches in the A-series. Pullan said that March’s performance was the best month in 15 months in terms of sales for Samsung’s mobile business. March 2022 is quite prolific for Samsung compared to its A-series smartphones. Samsung launched five Galaxy A series devices in March – Galaxy A13, Galaxy A23, Galaxy A33 5G, Galaxy A53 5G, and Galaxy A73 5G.
Both the A-series and the S-series remain crucial to Samsung’s ambitious growth plans. The S series – especially the Ultra variant – seems to have gained popularity among high-end phone buyers. Samsung has brought the responsive features of the Note series to the S series with Ultra and improved camera performance by a notch or two. The S22 series seems to have done much better than its predecessors. Samsung will soon reveal a rose gold color option for the S22 series, Pullan revealed.
Samsung’s Big Financial Boost
It’s not just high-end phones that Samsung wants to regain supremacy. In the budget and mid-range phone segments – which face stiff competition from Chinese manufacturers – they are betting big on the Samsung Finance Plus program. Launched nearly three years ago, Samsung Finance Plus is, according to Pullan, an integral part of Samsung’s growth plan.
Pullan said that Samsung Finance Plus contributes nearly Rs 500 crore per month to Samsung’s mobile business. Samsung Finance Plus is key for Samsung in Tier II and Tier III cities. According to Pullan, it is available in 50,000 stores with 14,000 pin codes. “We are currently processing more than 300,000 applications per month,” said Pullan.
This will not be an easy road for Samsung as the competition in the smartphone market seems to be getting stiffer by the month. Xiaomi still leads the market in terms of sales. Realme is on the upswing while the likes of Oppo and Vivo – in the low-end segment – are quite formidable. In the high-end segment (above Rs 45,000), Apple continues to influence buyers of high-end phones while the threat of OnePlus fails to lower prices. The likes of Xiaomi, Oppo also want to make their presence felt in the premium space.
With India moving closer to the reality of 5G, Samsung hopes to capitalize on it. It currently has 16 5G-enabled devices in its portfolio, and Pullan says that when 5G finally rolls out, Samsung can afford to take advantage of it.
