Shifting Focus to Smartphones
Samsung Electronics has decided to close down its feature phone business in India in December this year and shift the focus to smartphones, Indian media outlets reported on July 18.
Samsung produces feature phones in India through Dixon Technology, a local mobile phone manufacturer. It logged a 12 percent share in the Indian feature phone market in the first quarter of this year, taking third place after Itel and Lava. Yet, the Korean tech giant is gradually losing ground to its competitors. In the fourth quarter of 2021, the company's feature phone market share in India was 18 percent. The No. 1 player in this market is Itel, which accounted for 21 percent.
The feature phone market accounts for about 14 percent of the entire mobile phone market in India, according to Counterpoint Research. In the first quarter of this year, the global feature phone market fell 20 percent from the same period of 2021. During the same period, the Indian feature phone market also contracted 39 percent.
On the other hand, the smartphone market in India is gradually expanding. Last year, the overall growth rate of the global smartphone market stood at 2 to 3 percent, but the Indian smartphone market grew 18 percent. LTE and 4G phone users increased exponentially.
Samsung Electronics took a 20 percent share of the Indian smartphone market in the first quarter, ranking second after Xiaomi with 23 percent. It ranked first in the segments of 5G smartphones and low-end premium smartphones in the 480,000 won-730,000 won range.
Meanwhile, Samsung smartphones topped the market share rankings in Indonesia, a newly emerging market. According to market research firm IDC, Samsung held a 23.3 percent market share in Indonesia in the first quarter of this year, becoming the best-selling smartphone brand. Samsung was followed by Chinese companies -- Oppo (20.2 percent), Vivo (17.1 percent), Xiaomi (14.6 percent), and Realme (14.6 percent). The combined market share of these Chinese brands hit 66.5 percent.
In Indonesia’s 5G smartphone segment, Samsung Electronics garnered a 40 percent stake with the Galaxy A Series and the flagship Galaxy S22 Series.