Samsung to re-enter laptop segment in India, eyes double-digit market share

Korean electronics giant Samsung is re-entering the laptop business in India with a complete portfolio catering to consumers as well as enterprises. Planning to launch a wide portfolio, which are priced under Rs 40,000 and going up to Rs 1,20,000, Samsung is eyeing a double-digit market share by the end of the calendar year 2022. Samsung had exited the laptop business from India around 2013-14.
 
Sandeep Poswal, Business Head, New Computing Business, Samsung India told Business Today, "We are coming up with a strong portfolio in India. The six laptops that we are launching are the latest and the best from Samsung's house. We have recently announced this line-up at the Mobile World Congress (last month). We are very clear in our mind (with the launch) and want to target at least a double-digit market share by the end of this calendar year (2022)."
 
Also, with the re-launch of laptops, Samsung says it is addressing the voice of the consumer. "We are already present in smartphones and tablets. With the launch of laptops, our consumers will get a complete holistic experience, which is not catered by many of the competition present out there in the market. And it's something which consumers tell us," added Poswal.
 
Samsung is upbeat about the laptop category and is bringing six of its recently announced machines to the country. These include the Galaxy Book2 Pro 360, Galaxy Book2 Pro, Galaxy Book2, Galaxy Book2 360, Galaxy Book Go for students and the Galaxy Book2 Business for Enterprises. Most of these machines will also be available for enterprise and will be powered by Windows 11 Pro. The majority of the laptops will be powered by Intel 12th Gen i7 or i5 processors. Of these, the Galaxy Book2 Pro 360 is one of the world's slimmest devices in its class, weighs 868 grams, and provides ultra-fast charging with 21 hours battery life on a single charge.
 
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Over the last two years, a lot of new brands such as Xiaomi, realme, Nokia, amongst others have entered the laptop segment. Commenting on the late entry into the laptop business in the Indian market, Poswal said "the demand has increased of late. Even as per IDC, the market is almost 1.8x because the use cases have increased. From one laptop for a family, two to three devices are the norm right now. As for the forecast even from IDC, this will continue to grow. Even if you go back around a year ago, we were probably thinking this is done now when things would open probably the growth would slow down but 2021 again has proven to be a bumper year for tablets and laptops. And the base which has been established at almost 2x level is going slowly and steadily up. Which means the opportunity in the market is huge across all the sectors."
 
To be available for pre-booking later this week, the Samsung laptops will be available online on Samsung e-store, Flipkart, Amazon. In offline retail, the machines will be available at multi-channel retail partners such as Reliance Digital, and Chroma. Samsung also plans to showcase the laptops via offline retail channels where consumers who are walking in for purchasing phones can experience and purchase the laptops as well.

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