Samsung to launch smartphones priced below Rs. 15k this month

Samsung will launch two smartphones in India this month for less than Rs. 15,000, intensifying competition in the mid-segment mobile market.

The Korean company, which has a 49% share in India’s smart phone segment, will offer options in local languages to attract non-English speaking customers.

“We will be launching two new smart phones priced for the mid-segment market. Every phone from Samsung will have nine vernacular language options,” Samsung country head (mobile business) Vineet Taneja said, without mentioning the prices.

However, a company official said the phones may be priced in the Rs. 5,000-15,000 range. Most mobile phones in India are sold in this price range, including Nokia Lumia 520 and 620, Blackberry Curve, Xolo smartphones and Micromax Canvas 2.

The Samsung phones will offer access to content and applications in Hindi, Punjabi, Tamil, Bengali, Telugu, Kannada, Malayalam, Marathi and Gujarati.

“The competition now in the smart phone market is how to make the phone size small without compromising on the screen size,” Taneja said.

The company is set to launch its premium high-end smart phone, the Galaxy Note 3, on Tuesday.

Samsung currently offers about 17 smart phones priced between Rs. 5,000 (Samsung Star) and Rs. 39,000 (S4).

Taneja said the company is focusing on the mid-end to high-end smart phone market and will provide dual-SIM option in all handsets.

“Going forward, you will see more and more dual-SIM phones coming up,” he said.

According to telecom magazine Voice&Data, Samsung toppled Nokia from its leadership position in the financial year 2012-13 with revenue of Rs. 11,328 crore and a 31.5% market share. Nokia’s market share stood at 27.2%.