Samsung has seen better days. No longer it holds the top position in two of the world’s biggest phone markets, China and India.
During the second quarter of 2014, Xiaomi moved more phones than Sammy in China, according to Canalys. Said analysts claim Xiaomi managed to ship 15 million units to grab 14% of the market, compared to Samsung’s 12% with 13.2 million handsets.
The situation is similar in India with Hong Kong-based research firm Counterpoint Technology claiming that a local player, Micromax, garnered about 17% market share compared to Sammy’s 14%.
Yes, it’s just a single quarter, but it’s a sign, nevertheless.
Samsung is having hard time competing in low- and mid-ends of the market, where its competitors are routinely launching more affordable products with better specs. But… they’re also facing heat in the high-end of the market with the likes of Xiaomi launching top-notch phones that are sold for the friction of the price Samsung typically sells its phones for.
Going forward, we’re sure Koreans will adjust their strategy in some way; one idea would be to launch a new brand of affordable phones and preserve the Samsung brand for better devices. We don’t have any inside information, it’s just that something like that sounds like a viable strategy to me…