Samsung is a mammoth global company which not only deals in consumer electronics but is apparently ranked as one of the most trusted player in the smartphone business. However, for the past few months, Samsung has been criticized for not coming up with the low-end handsets made for emerging nations, especially after the launch of the Motorola Moto E.
If we take a look at the Indian market, which is one of the fastest growing, Samsung has entirely skipped out the affordable segment in favor of the high-end of the handset market. No doubt Samsung's premium series, including the phones under the Galaxy S and Note series, have been long associated with the whos who in India. But, at the same time, the domestic vendors have grown leaps and bounds over the demise of Samsung (as a brand) in the low-end market.
Now, it seems like Samsung has finally understood that. And for the sake of market share the company should try to capture the low-end market, currently dominated by the likes of Motorola, Micromax, and many other players.
The South Korean giant is apparently ready to announce two of its newest Android 4.4 Kitkat smartphones in the low-end category. The Galaxy Pocket 2 and the Galaxy Core 2 Duos has been listed at Mainguyen, a Vietnamese web shop.
Let's know about the specifications first one-by-one. The Galaxy Pocket 2, as the name suggests, will be a successor to the Galaxy Pocket, a phone launched back in 2012. The entry level handset will feature a 3.5-inch QVGA display, 1.0GHz single core processor, Android 4.4 Kitkat, dual-SIM, HSPA, 512MB of RAM, 4GB of internal memory, and a 2-megapixel rear-facing camera.
The Samsung Galaxy Core 2 Duos, on the other hand, is said to come with a 4.5-inch WVGA display, Android 4.4 Kitkat, dual-SIM support, a quad-core processor, 768MB of RAM, a 5-megapixel rear-facing camera, and 4GB of internal memory.
Both the devices have already been listed online; although Samsung is yet to announce the handsets officially.
Even though we've no information when Samsung will announce its newest low-end handsets for the Indian market, but it appears that the company might bring these handsets sooner than later. And there are several reasons why Samsung would be interested to show that the brand is still relevant under Rs. 10,000 market, as far Indian handset market is concerned.
Success of Motorola Moto E
After the success of the Moto E, Motorola is enjoying steady sales for the device. Priced at Rs.6,999, the Moto E has become the undisputable king in the affordable segment. Moto E is a solid phone that everyone can think of buying without making any extra effort, plus its hardware is not at all bad considering its retail price. The rise of Motorola (now owned by Lenovo)is a bad news for Samsung.
Easy availability of Android Kitkat Smartphones
Back in 2013, the low-end handset market was the least attractive. And Samsung made no efforts in the past two years to launch feature rich phones targeting India's masses. At the same time, the availability of Android 4.4 Kitkat smartphones under Rs. 10,000 paved way for the rise of super affordable handsets for the mainstream Indian.
Declining Smartphones Prices
These days' premium smartphones players, such as Samsung, HTC, Sony, are under tremendous pressure. It is reported that the declined cost of smartphone sales lead to the growth slowing in North America, Europe, South Korea and Japan while buyer's in developing nations tend to buy cheaper handsets. And on the top of it, Samsung said it may post a second quarterly profit decline. The company has already reduced the price of the Galaxy S5 in India end number of times since the device first landed in India in April this year.
Rise of Chinese smartphone players
Not only Samsung, but Apple, HTC and many other players are worried about the rise of Chinese players in emerging nations. China's top ranked players, including Gionee, Oppo, ZTE, Lenovo and Huawei, have already started giving tough competition to players such as Samsung in the Indian handset market.
"In 2014, I expect that even more Chinese vendors will come in and they will put in greater investment in such emerging markets and they will pose a bigger threat" to Samsung, said Ryan Lai, an analyst at research firm IDC.
