Samsung is working on new budget-friendly Galaxy M phones which will debut in India before rolling out globally. According to Reuters, this move is part of efforts to take over as the lead smartphone marketer in India, since Xiaomi took over the lead in 2017.
Asim Warsi, senior vice president of Samsung India’s smartphone market told Reuters in an interview that the three new Galaxy M phones will be available on Samsung’s India website, as well as Amazon India starting the end of January. Warsi believes that this approach will help the South Korean phone manufacturer take over its lead in the Indian market.
These phones will arrive to India before rolling out in the rest of the world. That way, it could recover the lead in this country after it lost to Xiaomi at the end of 2017. At that time, Xiaomi’s sales in India took over Samsung for the first time, Canalys and Counterpoint data reports.
Xiaomi is known for its budget-friendly Redmi series which were quick to take over the lower-range smartphone budget around the world. On the other hand, Samsung’s devices are more expensive, which is why the South Korean phone manufacturer lost its lead. One of the ways Samsung chose to fight its competition was by opening a factory near New Delhi, a facility it describes as the world’s largest mobile phone factory in Noida.
“A lot of our insights, R&D and developments for consumers in India … they have great connect with many other consumers in many other parts of the world,” Warsi told Reuters.
Samsung’s smartphones in India are being sold through 250,000 different retail stores, as well as more than 2,000 exclusive stores. Those in need of Samsung’s support can do so through 2,000 service centers. Warsi told Reuters that “the M series has been built around and incepted around Indian millennial consumers.”
The three new Galaxy M phones will likely cost from less than 10, 000 rupees which is about $142 USD, up to 20, 000 rupees. For the record, $1 is around 70 Indian rupees.
Samsung has also announced the date of the upcoming Unpacked event at which it’s supposed to unveil the new Galaxy S flagship phone. The event will take place on Feb. 20 at 11 a.m. PT at the Bill Graham Civic Auditorium in San Francisco. The invitation clearly shows number 10 in the animation displayed on Samsung’s website. However, it could also note the tenth anniversary of the Galaxy series.
According to a report in The Wall Street Journal, Samsung is going to reveal a “fully functional” version of the long-anticipated foldable device, followed by three variants of the Samsung Galaxy S10.
