Samsung plans major push in India
By Reuters staff
07 March 2001
The Indian unit of Samsung Electronics Co announced on Wednesday a major push to market its range of mobile phone handsets to cash in on an expected boom in the country's telecom sector.
The firm introduced a mobile handset based on Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA) technology for the Indian market, the first ever public launch of a such a handset in a country where all cellular networks use rival GSM technology.
Samsung said it was banking on a huge demand for CDMA handsets following the government's decision to allow fixed line telephone firms to offer limited mobility based on the CDMA wireless in local loop technology.
This will allow fixed line phone subscribers mobile access in a local area, covering whole cities in some cases.
The government has allowed unrestricted entry into the business and kicked off the process of issuing licences to private firms for starting operations in the four metros and 21 circles that make up the country's telecom market.
"Given a pessimistic estimate, the market size can be two million (handsets) this year; the optimistic figure can be five million," K.S. Kim, managing director of Samsung Electronics India Information & Telecommunication Ltd, told reporters.
"In the CDMA segment, I expect more than 50 percent of the users to be using Samsung phones by the end of the year," he said, adding that the firm planned to beef up its service network to 50 centres by the end of the year.
Samsung's wholly-owned Indian unit, set up in May 1999, has a modest presence in the telecom business. Its
operations have so far focused on its consumer electronics business.
Samsung officials said they were in talks with all leading Indian telecom firms to market the firm's CDMA handsets, which would be provided as a package deal along with the phone service.
Shashin Devasare, senior manager, telecom, at Samsung India said the market potential was huge considering that the country had a waiting list of nearly four million fixed line connections.
The South Korean electronics giant is also pushing its GSM handsets in a bid to capture a part of rival Nokia's huge market share in the country.
The firm launched three new models of GSM-based mobile phones priced between 14,995 and 27,995 rupees ($322-$601). These include two wireless application protocol (WAP)-enabled models and another with a built-in MP3 player.
The three new models take the firm's range in India to six.
"I am confident we will be able to notch up 25 percent market share in the GSM market this year," Kim said.
"While in the longer run, both GSM and CDMA will grow, in the short run, CDMA is the most promising area and will show very strong growth," he added.
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