Samsung readies Guardians of the Galaxy to fight Apple

After conceding significant market share to iphone maker Apple in 2020, Korean consumer technology major Samsung has unveiled its newly stocked armoury for a fresh round of battle. The brand is ready to claw back share with its newly launched Galaxy S21 line up.

Samsung, which continues to enjoy a large footprint in the local handsets market with a doubledigit share in both smartphone and feature phone segments, has had a rough patch, especially in the premium segment, since Apple changed its tact in late-2019.

Since then, Samsung had been pushed to the second spot in the above-~35,000 price segment. With its S20 and Note20 flagships trailing behind Apple’s iphone XR and 11 sales — thanks to significant price drops — Samsung's market share in the segment fell below 40 per cent in 2020.

That, however, is expected to change. According to analysts, the new line up from Samsung, scheduled to be launched this week, has been specifically targeted to attract premium consumers, who are open to switching between Android OS and IOS. Moreover, improved camera technology, bezel-less display, and vlog-ready devices with strong front and back cameras have been introduced keeping an eye on Apple device buyers.

Samsung has also kept prices competitive. The S21 series comprises three flagships — S21, S21 Plus, and S21 Ultra — positioned to compete with iphone 12, 12 Pro, and 12 Max Pro.

But compared to the ~79,900 price tag that the iphone 12 base model bears, the S21 comes at ~69,999. The S21 Plus is priced at

~81,999 and competes with iphone 12 Pro that starts at ~1,19,900. The S21 Ultra at ~105,999 is pitted against iphone 12 Pro-max that comes for ~129,900.

Apple, however, is yet to bring its trump card out. While steep price cuts on iphone 11 and XR helped it post record sales last year, its newly launched iphone 12 series is still selling at maximum retail price across channels. Come May, that is likely to change as Indiamade iphone 12 models hit the market. Till then, however,

Samsung will have a clear edge, said analysts.

The significant jump in iphone sales had a lot to do with a large section of old iphone users upgrading to newer models, according to Navkendar Singh, research director at IDC.

“Majority of iphone sales came from replacement buying, which is a one-time phenomenon in years. The rest has been the result of attractive pricing that it has managed to offer recently,” he said.

For the past two years, Apple’s localisation strategy seems to have worked. In 2020, Apple sold over 3 million iphones in India, backed by a whopping 1.5 million units shipped in the December quarter, Counterpoint Research said.

While the premium market for smartphones may have grown marginally last year, Singh is not estimating a major change in the mix. The share of the above~40,000 price segment is hovering at 4-5 per cent of the market and has remained unchanged since 2016. “Consumers are marred with lack of disposable income, job losses or salary cuts and a gloomy economic outlook. It is unlikely that at this point a large number of consumers will go for premium handsets,” he said.

Moreover, with brands fighting out to introduce 5G-enabled handsets, prices of devices are falling steadily and are expected to come down to an affordable range (~12,000-15,000) by mid-2021. This further curtails any chance of consumers moving up the price ladder in search of the latest technology.

According to IDC, as Oneplus diluted its proposition of being a challenger to lower-end iphones and premium Samsung devices, competitiveness in the premium market has already waned.