Aiming for the Top

Samsung leads typically in innovation and is always looking very closely to bring in better value proposition in every category it operates on. The company's core value lies in innovation, consumer delight and finding the differentiators through which it can add value to the consumers.

In the space of IT, it follows a three screen strategy. One is the large screen, it has display devices like TVs and large format displays; in the slightly smaller screen size, it offers monitors and notebook screen; and then lastly, it has mobile phones' screens amongst others. Samsung wants to be a key as well as dominant player in all these three categories.

“If you put all these together and look at what we want to do in the field of IT is that we are again looking to provide innovation to our consumers. Besides, we always look at how to provide value addition to enterprise-be it SOHOs, SMBs, or the government sector-we have solutions to offer in all these areas,” said Ranjit Yadav, Country Head-Mobile & IT, Samsung India.

In B2B side, Samsung has large format displays to offer, wherein, it not only provides the hardware but also the software behind it. It can support retail solutions as well.

The consumer foray for Samsung is primarily driven by notebooks and high-end monitors. It hasn't forayed into desktop space, as it believes that market is shifting towards mobility. In India, the company enjoys four to five percent market share in the notebooks category. It is also one of the few vendors which is actively trying to grow the netbook category. In netbooks, we have around 20 percent market share.

Yadav further added, “Realistically, not many players are driving the netbook segment in India. With the coming of 3G and lot of activities taking place around access, this will definitely push the segment. We are a full range notebook player as well, wherein we have 17 to 18 SKUs in the market. In netbooks, we have around seven to eight SKUs. Samsung is not a niche player and we will always have a full range of products in whatever category we chose to play in. As we go forward, you will see increasing emphasis on the premium products as well.”

Depending on location and business objectives, for notebooks, the company has also developed a newer footprint. It is because the existing network of partners might not cater to certain locations. But the offer definitely goes to the existing partners first and they have the first right to refusal.

In the printer segment, its primary focus is on multifunction devices and that too on the laser printers. Here, it mainly targets enterprise, government and SMB segments. The printing business is one of the Samsung's big bets in the enterprise and SMB segments.

“Since we have an open platform philosophy in the principle, we work with channel partners to provide Managed Print Services in select locations. We are hardware provider who enables services to be delivered and we will help build that ecosystem. We don't look to deliver end-to-end. We will help build the MPS ecosystem and provide products catering to it,” asserted Yadav.

For Samsung, market share is an outcome of actions it takes and its not a driver by itself. At the end of 2010, it is looking at 20 percent market share. But more than market share, it is looking at what kind of solutions and offerings it has for its consumers.

“Samsung in philosophy believes in giving a choice to its consumers. For example, our smartphones support different OS like Sybian, Android, Windows, and our own open OS, Bada. At Samsung, we consider India as our focus market which is leading in terms of advertising and product introduction. For example, India is the first three market in the world where it has introduced Galaxy Tab,” opined Yadav.

For the mobility space, Samsung again focuses on innovation and believes in bringing the premium products to the market. It introduces 40 to 45 models every year, as it wants to give consumers ample number of choice. The company also believes that India is moving towards a paradigm shift from a land of less choice and scarcity to abundant choice. Today, consumers are much more educated, they have brands in mind, configurations, etc.

For Samsung, both the IT and telecom channels exist, as many partners on both the sides are box movers or solution sellers. Depending on the category and the product, there can be synergies. For example, for the tablets, consumers might like to go to IT solution provider or a high-end mobile store; and based on these actions, the company takes its distribution decisions.

“Similarly, for netbooks and notebooks, it has chosen a channel which is appropriate. There can be some overlap and with convergence happening, channel partners will have to work out on themselves. We are willing to support our partners in the best possible way,” said Yadav.

Yadav further added, “The good thing about the channel strategy is that it shouldn't change too much because we like to work with the same partners. One of the Samsung's proposition to channel is that we look for long-term relationships and we look for win-win situation together. This is our overall philosophy and approach. I have been handling the business for the last two years and we haven't changed any partners. We have enough people who would like to work with us. We work with the same distributors with whom we used to work till two years back.”

And since, the company believes in building long-term relationships with its partners, it doesn't see any conflict. Apparently, more and more partners want to associate themselves with Samsung. Today, it has around 60,000 partners in the mobile segment and around 3000 partners in the IT segment. And it already has the skill sets to manage such a huge number of partners.

“Going forward, Samsung will emphasize on notebook and netbook business, as it is clearly seeing the shift taking place from desktops. We will look to address the consumers and I believe this will lead to increasing the market share. Another focus would be on large format displays, wherein we see huge opportunity for us to grow. Clearly, we want to be market leaders in all the categories,” concluded Yadav.

Nivedan Prakash
(nivedanp@cybermedia.co.in)