Samsung, the world’s smartphone manufacturer and a dominating player in the Indian smartphone market, is planning to gradually exit the high volume but low-value feature phone business in India.
A new report from Economic Times, citing people aware of the development, claims that the last batch of Samsung feature phones for the Indian market is set to be manufactured by its partner Dixon by the end of this year.
Samsung is among the two major MNCs contributing to the Indian government’s Production-Linked Incentive (PLI) scheme. The report adds that the company is mandated to get sops only on the production of handsets worth over ₹15,000 factor price.
The South Korean giant will exit the low-value feature phone business in India to instead focus on the mid-range, upper or premium mid-range, and premium smartphones. Basically, it is aiming at devices costing ₹15,000 (~$193) or more.
Feature phone shipments in the Indian market declined by 39 percent year-on-year in the first quarter of this year. This resulted from multiple factors, including supply chain issues and low demand due to high retail inflation.
Samsung was the leading brand in the feature phone segment in the Indian market but has now fallen to the third spot with a 12 percent market share. Itel is now leading the market with a 21 percent market share, and Lava grabs the second position with 20 percent share.
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