'Aiming over 50% share in super-premium Indian market with new foldables'

NEW DELHI: India is one of the fastest growing and the largest mobile markets in the world and Samsung now aims to reach over 50 per cent market share in the country in the super-premium ($1,000 and above) segment, the company’s mobile chief has said.

According to TM Roh, President and Head of Samsung Electronics' mobile business, India is also a very important strategic market that is leading the way for popularisation of the foldables, highly sensitive to technological innovation and also very much open to innovation.

“Galaxy products already account for 35 per cent market share in the super-premium ($1,000+) segment in India, and with the newly-launched Z Flip5 and Z Fold5, we are now aiming at over 50 per cent market share in the country,” Roh told a select group of visiting journalists here during the launch of new foldables.

Led by Samsung, the foldable (including flip) smartphones are likely to contribute over 1.8 per cent of the total smartphone revenue in India this year, reaching over Rs 6,300 crore in the country.

This is expected to be achieved by the sale of 6.35 lakh foldable smartphones in the country during the year. The foldable form factor is also expected to cross the 1 million mark of annual sales in 2025, which will double in three years by 2028, according to market research firm techARC.

Roh said that in the second half of 2023, with the new and improved Galaxy Z Fold5 and Z Flip5, “we will be solidifying our foldable leadership in the India market”.

“Thanks to the Galaxy Tab S9 series, as well as the Watch6 and Watch6 Classic, we will be able to provide an even stronger Galaxy ecosystem experience to be even more loved by the consumers in India,” he mentioned.

The top Samsung executive said that if more consumers in India were to use foldable and flip phones to provide them with more needs and more demands, better ideas for innovation, “then, of course, we'll incorporate them into the direction of our innovation”.

As per CyberMedia Research (CMR)'s estimates, foldable smartphone shipments in 2023 are projected to surge 65 per cent year-on-year. Foldables smartphones in the price range of Rs 60,000 to Rs 75,000 are expected to grow five times by 2026 in India.

Globally, the foldable category is expected to top 30 million units of cumulative sales all over the world this year.

Samsung has sold nearly 10 million foldable phones since it launched the previous models last summer.

“This year will mark a major turning point for Samsung's smartphone business, with a goal to push up the portion of foldable phones to more than 20 per cent of Galaxy flagship sales worldwide,” Roh told the global media earlier.

In the next few years, sales of foldable phones could “hit 100 million units a year worldwide,” he added, citing various reports by industry research firms.

Since Samsung first introduced the new form factor in 2019, more companies have joined the high-end segment and the manufacturing ecosystem has expanded.