Samsung expects record smartphone sales this year

Mobile phone manufacturer Samsung is expecting record sales this year, exceeding the sales in 2016, mainly driven by Samsung Pay offering in its mid- to high-end smartphones. The firm said it saw a 40 per cent growth in sales during the current festival season as against an industry growth of 25-30 per cent.
 

"In 2016, we had a record performance. We are expecting to do better than that this year," said Aditya Babbar, general manager, Samsung Mobile. 

Quoting research firm GfK, he said the company had a 47 per cent value (total) market share and 68 per cent market share in the premium segment in September. During the three months ended September, the overall market share was 45 per cent and premium segment market share was 65 per cent.

"Samsung mobile growth in the first half of the financial year was in double digits and festival growth has been extremely good. It is around 40 per cent and we have outgrown the industry with this kind of number. Industry grew by 25-30 per cent during this season, which was higher than the single-digit growth in the first half of the year, according to various reports," he said.

The company said it had been working on India-specific offerings over the years, with an ultra-data saving mode launched in 2015 and a bike mode in 2016. 

In 2017, the company launched Samsung Pay in J Series, available from Rs 11,500 a unit. Globally, it offers the service only in flagship products, above Rs 30,000 a piece.

At present, it has around 2.5 million Samsung Pay users in the country and a coverage of around 3 million Point of Sales. Out of 37 models in India, Samsung Pay is available in 26.

When queried on if they would bring it down to the lower range of mobile phones, Babbar said, “We are closely watching the adoption and demand."
 

The company officials did not divulge the revenue for the mobile phone business in India. According to industry sources, the mobile phone business is around 65 per cent of the total revenue of Samsung India.

It has launched Galaxy S8 that has seen a 2X growth in sales than the previous version. The Note 8, which was launched later, also saw a 2x growth in sales compared to its predecessor, said Babbar.