Samsung sees its best qtr for smartphones
foldable smartphones registered 150,000-plus pre-orders. “This gave us almost ₹1,500 crore with pre-booking of our latest foldable smartphones…this meant a growth of 1.5x in the number of units we sold in pre-booking this year, over last year’s foldable phone sales," Pullan added. The year 2023 is also the first time when both of Samsung’s most recent generation foldable smartphones were manufactured at the company’s Noida assembly plant.
Pullan, however, said the expansion of the smartphone industry is majorly driven by the premium segment. “Samsung is number-one in volume and value in the past quarters, which suggest that we are growing ahead of the market. Analysts said there is slowdown in the sub-$200 (sub- ₹15,000) price bracket but we’re seeing huge uptake in the premium segment.
This is being driven by affordability…via our in-house financing scheme, we’re presently doing 400,000 transactions every month," he added. However, industry stakeholders remain bearish on the growth prospects of smartphone brands in the short term. Manish Khatri, partner at Mumbai-based retailer Mahesh Telecom, said demand for smartphones remains low, but Apple’s iPhones, and Samsung’s foldable line are witnessing significant sales.
Samsung is now seeking to cash in on this trend during the festival season. “We have trained 15,000 retailers with our upgrade programme. Users are also expected to upgrade their devices."
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