A CASE STUDY REPORT

ON
SAMSUNG COUNTER STRATEGY FOR INDIAN MID
SEGMENT SMARTPHONE MARKET

SUBMITTED IN THE PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF

THE PGDM DEGREE COURSE OF
BALAJI INSTITUTE OF TELECOM & MANAGEMENT (BITM)

SUBMITTED BY

PRATEEK PARIHAR

TM1615274

2017-2019

BALAJI INSTITUTE OF TELECOM & MANAGEMENT

S. No. 55/2-7, TATHAWADE, NEAR WAKAD,
OFF. MUMBAI-BANGALORE BYPASS
PUNE (411033)

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Declaration

I, Prateek Parihar, Roll number-TM1615274, student of BITM – Balaji Institute of Telecom

and Management, Pune, Hereby declare that this case study paper entitled “Samsung Counter
Strategy For Indian Mid Segment Smartphone Market” is a bona fide record of work done
by me. I also declare that it has not previously formed the basis for the award to me for any
degree/diploma associate ship, fellowship or other similar title, of any Institute/Society.

Place: Pune

Date: 25th march 2019

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 Table of Contents

S. No. Particulars Page No.

01 Executive Summary 4
02 CHAPTER 1 Introduction 5
03 CHAPTER 2 Products 6
04 CHAPTER 3 Main Contents 7-9
05 CHAPTER 4 Analysis 10-12
06 CHAPTER 5 Learning Objectives 13
07 References 14

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 Executive Summary

This case study talks about Samsung, which one time gained the top spot in the Indian
smartphone market now has seen a drastic fall in its market share as well as sales in mid
segment market . The case has a mention about the complete scenario of the company right
from its growth to downfall then strategies to counter competetors. The case contains detailed
analysis of the reasons which can Samsung progress and the reasons which can lead it to again
be the number one player in Indian smartphone market.

The case contains the reasons, variables and scenarios which led to growth in the share of
Samsung and also the same which led to decrease in its market share. This case presents the
situations in which Samsung which once became the market leader has now lost its shares to
emerging organizations such as Xiomi ,Oppo and Vivo. The case analyses of Samsung which
contributed to its decreased growth and what Samsung should have done to prevent its market
position.

In short the case describes how Samsung grew in the Indian market and how it has now become
a second ranked player in the smartphone industry.

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CHAPTER 1

Introduction
Samsung Company :
Samsung Electronics is a multinational electronics and information technology company
headquartered in Suwon and the flagship company of the Samsung Group. Its products include
air conditioners, computers, digital televisions, liquid crystal displays (including thin film
transistors (TFTs) and active-matrix organic light-emitting diodes (AMOLEDs)), mobile
phones, monitors, printers, refrigerators, semiconductors and telecommunications networking
equipment.It is the world's largest mobile phone maker by unit sales in the first quarter of 2012,
with a global market share of 25.4%. It is also the world's second-largest semiconductor maker
by 2011 revenues (after Intel).
Samsung Electronics is listed on the Korea Exchange stock-exchange (number 005930).

History :

Samsung started to rise as an international corporation in the 1990s. Samsung's construction

branch was awarded contracts to build one of the two Petronas Towers in Malaysia, Taipei in
Taiwan and the Burj Khalifa in United Arab Emirates.In 1993, Lee Kun-hee sold off ten of
Samsung Group's subsidiaries, downsized the company, and merged other operations to
concentrate on three industries: electronics, engineering and chemicals. In 1996, the Samsung
Group reacquired the Sungkyunkwan University foundation.
Samsung became the world's largest producer of memory chips in 1992 and is the world's
second-largest chipmaker after Intel (see Worldwide Top 20 Semiconductor Market Share
Ranking Year by Year).In 1995, it created its first liquid-crystal display screen. Ten years later,
Samsung grew to be the world's largest manufacturer of liquid-crystal display panels. Sony,
which had not invested in large-size TFT-LCDs, contacted Samsung to cooperate, and, in 2006,
S-LCD was established as a joint venture between Samsung and Sony in order to provide a
stable supply of LCD panels for both manufacturers. S-LCD was owned by Samsung (50%
plus one share) and Sony (50% minus one share) .

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CHAPTER 2

Products:
The flagship Galaxy S9/S9+, which launched late in the first quarter 2018, witnessed slower-
than-normal sales according to Samsung, which claims the slowdown is due to both intensified
competition at the high end and an overall sluggish smartphone market. However, the company
is hopeful that with the arrival of Galaxy Note 9 in fall 2018 and the new Galaxy 10s, launched
in February 2019, sales will rebound.

Here is the rundown on the latest Galaxies:

Samsung galaxy fold: The Fold is definitely innovative, with a 4.6-inch HD+ Super AMOLED
display (21:9 aspect ratio) on its front and a large interior display that unfolds into a 7.3-inch
QXGA+ Dynamic AMOLED screen (4.2:3 aspect ratio). For users, the Fold will likely be all
about that big screen. But priced starting at $1,980—or twice the price of a typical flagship
handset—the Galaxy Fold will not be a smartphone for everybody.

In addition to its dual 7.3-inch and 4.6-inch displays, the Galaxy Fold features a 64-bit
Qualcomm Snapdragon 855 Octa-core processor, 12GB of LPDDR4x RAM, 512GB of on-
board storage and a 4,380mAh battery with fast charging and wireless charging capabilities.
The Fold does not have a MicroSD slot for additional storage.

The Fold also features the same cameras as the new Galaxy S10+ and S10 smartphones,
including a new three-lens rear main camera set with a 16-megapixel ultra-wide lens, a 12MP
dual pixel wide-angle lens and a 12MP telephoto lens. On the front are a pair of 10MP and
8MP auto-focus cameras.

Samsung Galaxy S10+: The base Galaxy S10+ features a 6.4-inch Wide Quad HD+ Dynamic
AMOLED Infinity-O display, which is larger than the 6.2-inch display in the previous S9+
phone, a Qualcomm Snapdragon 850 Octa-core processor, 8GB of RAM and 128GB of
onboard storage. The S10+ is also available in premium versions with a ceramic front and rear
cover with 8GB of RAM and 512GB of onboard storage or with 12GB of RAM and 1TB of
onboard storage. The earlier S9+ included 6GB of RAM and started at 64GB of RAM.

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CHAPTER 3

Main Content
When it comes to the mobile industry, Samsung is undoubtedly a force to be reckoned with.
According to the numbers released by IDC a few months back, the chaebol is (still) the largest
smartphone manufacturer in the world. And if Samsung wants to continue being that, it can’t
afford to ignore India, the fastest-growing smartphone market in the world.

Since it’s an extremely price-sensitive market, in India, sales are largely driven by the mid-
range and affordable segments. While Samsung does have devices/line-ups (e.g. Galaxy J-
series) catering to these price brackets, it has been facing intense competition for quite some
time now, thanks to the emergence (and subsequent rise) of Chinese players like Xiaomi, Oppo,
and Vivo.

To counter the onslaught from China, Samsung has completely “overhauled” its India strategy,
and will now put significant focus on the mass-market segment.

In the mid-end mass segment, the competition is very harsh. It’s not just the products, it must
constantly communicate effectively about Samsung, closely work with the government, and
focus on CSR activities. These steps will be important in helping us gain the trust and love of
Indian consumers

So, what exactly is Samsung’s reworked strategy? It seems it’s all about products that stand
out from the competition because of their features and innovations. There’s no denying the fact
that Samsung realizes the part India has to play in the former’s plans to continue being a
dominant force in the world’s mobile industry. This is why the company recently opened the
world’s largest mobile phone manufacturing plant in Noida, Uttar Pradesh.

It’ll be interesting to see how Samsung’s renewed focus on India and its volume-driving ‘mass
segment’ helps it in staving off competition from brands like Xiaomi, whose own strategy
seems to focus launching flagship-grade smartphones at dirt-cheap prices.

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 Table no. 3.1

Samsung's new Galaxy 'M' series of smartphones with industry-first features indicates the
importance it accords to India as a growth market

According to experts, Samsung which is still the most vertical integrated player in the Indian
market, has set its eyes firmly on de-throwning Xiaomi's highly-successful Redmi series in the
affordable and mid-price range segment.

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Graph no. 3.2

The Indian smartphone market -- currently undergoing great churning at both the hardware and
software levels -- is set to witness a game-changing moment this month in the Samsung Galaxy
'M' series devices that may redefine the affordable and mid-level price segments.

The South Korean giant, which has a significant presence across price points in the country,
would this month launch two smartphones -- M10 for around Rs 9,500 and M20 for nearly Rs
15,000 -- with not-seen-before specifications like Infinity-V display in this segment.

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CHAPTER 4

ANALYSIS

SWOT Analysis of SAMSUNG:

Strengths
 Samsung is the world’s number one marketer of mobile phones with 21.4% of the
world’s largest market share in the second quarter of 2015. Apple is number two with
13.9%

 Samsung has impressive research and design capabilities. It was able to create and roll
out , a payment app with similar capabilities to Apple Pay, in less than a year. Samsung
has been able to replicate many of the capabilities of both Apple Inc.’s phones and
Google Inc.’s Android operating system for mobile devices.

 Samsung has strong manufacturing and marketing capabilities.

Weaknesses

 Samsung has not been able to match Apple Inc.’s marketing capabilities for smartphones.
Its share of the Indian smartphone market fell by 2.3% between 2017and 2019. In
contrast, Apple’s share price grew by 34.9%.

 Not able to understand the best value for money preposition product as xiomi oppo one
plus does

 Some Chinese competitors are catching up to Samsung in the smartphone market.

Between 2014 and 2015 Huawei’s share grew by 48.1%, and Xiaomi’s share grew by
29.4%.

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Opportunities

 New technologies such as wearable tech

 Growing middle class in developing world will increase market for consumer
electronics.

 Improving the brand perception.

Threats
 Competition from national & global players:

 Chinese manufacturers such as Huawei and Xiaomi emerged as serious rivals to

Samsung. These companies’ share of the critical mobile device market is growing while
Samsung’s is falling.

Learning Objective:

1 - How can Samsung achieve good position in Indian Market?

2 – What could have Samsung done to prevent its value share in Indian Market before Chinese
players takes the charge?

Solution 1:

Growth Reasons

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It targets budget shoppers
India is a market where nothing sells better than the low price. Consumers, especially those
who are buying their first smartphone after ditching the feature phone they were using for the
last five years, are extremely price conscious. Samsung understands this. Hence, it also now
sells smartphones in Rs 10000 to Rs 50000 price brackets. This is the price segment where
most of the consumers are and by giving people phones they can afford samsung reaps big
rewards.

It releases as many phones as it can

In the world of smartphones, to keep the buzz around your products either you have to be Apple
or you have to keep people interested in your phones by showing them a new phone every
month or even every week. Samsung launches almost one to two phones every month, keeping
the brand name fresh in people's memories.

Marketing with a difference

While Samsung have as much marketing budget it does a really good job of marketing itself.
It spends ample money traditional marketing and advertisement channels like television and
newspapers. It portrays the Samsung brand as a cool, hip brand that is different from others.

Good reach inside India's small towns and rural areas

Samsung has very good reach within India. This means whether you are in a big city like
Delhi or in a small town outside Agra, you can easily find a Samsung phone in the store. Now,
Samsung too has invested a lot of money in its supply chain, and just like Nokia of the old days
it is omnipresent in the Indian phone market. But when you combine the fact that Samsung
phones are easily available with the low prices at which they are available, you get a winning
combination. In comparison, Samsung still comes across as sort of a premium brand,.

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Solution 2:

Strategies Samsung could have adopted

Sponsoring Indian Cricket Matches
One of the major sponsor who used to sponsor every cricket match held in India, our own
“Hero Honda – Desh ki Dharkan – Dhak Dhak”. But Samsung knew that Indian people love
cricket more than any other game and serial. So they took the title from Hero Honda and did
sponsor a lot of series. With this strategy they reached to millions of customers. In 2014-15
they paid 20m INR to BCCI per match.

Reach to Indian market

Soon after launching their own mobile handsets in the market they started opening outlets all
across Indian cities. They opened outlets and service centers more aggressively than any other
mobile company even beating Nokia. Through this they become a household name in all cities
and quickly made its own identity.

Right product strategy

Samsung knows what Indian wants. As price driven market. Who understands this line more
than Indian and this is what Samsung should do . Right product at right time at right price.
Who keeps a mobile handset more than one or two years. Every quarter they bring a new
handset, only competitor in terms of launching handset is Xiomi.

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CONCLUSION

In my opinion Samsung already took a nice step towards understanding Indian consumers and
try to provide value prepositions as products in price driven market hence Samsung need to
continue this along with better service supports and consecutive updates to Indian users that
will basically let Samsung stand at the same rank as it was before in comparison to Chinese
players

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References :

 http://global.samsungtomorrow.com/samsung-electronics-announces-earnings-
guidance-for-q2-2015/

 http://www.idc.com/prodserv/smartphone-market-share.jsp

 http://www.extremetech.com/computing/185937-in-2015-tablet-sales-will-finally-
surpass-pcs-fulfilling-steve-jobs-post-pc-prophecy

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