Samsung plans Indian blitz

Korean tech giant Samsung plans to open between 3000 and 4000 new stores in India’s smaller cities to boost sales.

Samsung already plans to open 1000 stores in fourth and fifth tier cities this year.

“It is indeed a big challenge since modern retailing has yet to make any entry in these small towns and villages, and at best, there will be one small street that is the retail hub,” said Vineet Taneja, Samsung head for India.

“We have value-engineered our existing brand store format by lowering fixture costs so that the owner can break-even these stores in one-fourth the time than the stores in larger towns and metros.”

Taneja expects good sales of the entry-to-mid-level smartphones as well as TV sets, which will drive volume market share. He is also confident some consumers will even buy flagship smartphone models such as the Galaxy S5.

Samsung currently has more than 2000 exclusive brand stores in India and has a 19 per cent volume share of the Indian mobile phone market.

You have 7 articles remaining. Unlock 15 free articles a month, it’s free.