Samsung opens Bangalore store, its biggest in world

MUMBAI: Samsung Electronics Co Ltd opened its biggest mobile store in the world in India yesterday as it tries to take pole position in the world’s secondbiggest smartphone market amid fierce competition from Chinese brands.

The South Korean tech giant’s roughly 33,000 sq ft store in the southern tech hub of Bengaluru will help it extend its lead in India over global rival Apple Inc, which has yet to open any flagship stores in the country.

India, which boasts more than a billion wireless connections, presents a lucrative opportunity for smartphone makers to expand beyond China and the United States where growth has slowed.

It opened the world’s biggest smartphone plant outside New Delhi just two months ago.

“India is an extremely important market,” said Mohandeep Singh, senior vice-president, mobile business at Samsung India, adding that the company planned to open more such stores in some of India’s top 10 cities.

“These stores... will really help us further consolidate our share as we move forward,” he said.

The new store will feature Samsung mobile devices but also showcase its consumer electronics products and latest innovations. It will also house a service centre for phones.

Samsung, which runs 2,100 stores in India through franchise partners, is facing off against a host of Chinese brands led by Xiaomi Corp.

It has pulled pages from their playbooks to become savvier with online marketing – launching devices aimed at millennials, seeking to reinvent itself as a “younger brand” and finding a new love for cricket with a sponsorship deal.

Samsung also wanted to develop the centre as a meeting point for startups and venture capitalists, Mohandeep added.

Apple sells its devices in India through reseller stores and online marketplaces and has a meagre market share of one per cent.