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

South Korean electronics major Samsung will re-enter the laptop segment in India this month and aims to capture double-digit market share by the year-end, a senior company official said on Tuesday.

Samsung India General Manager and head of new computing business Sandeep Poswal said there is demand in the market, which makes a case for the company to re-enter the segment.

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"By the end of this year, 2022, we plan to have double-digit market share in the addressable area where we operate. We want to offer this to all segments of our customers. We are launching in March and we will try to do our best to achieve this share," Poswal told PTI.

The company had stopped selling laptops in India after 2014.

He said as per latest IDC data, the market has almost grown 1.8 times between pre- and post-COVID.

"There is a complete strong demand coming. We believe this demand is coming in mainly led by consumer use cases scenario building up, which may be work from home, study from home. We expect this will continue.

"Second reason for Samsung getting into the laptop market is we are talking to a generation which has grown with mobile as their first device," Poswal said.

He said a person who has been using mobiles for 8-9 years would have a few basic requirements.

"They want to have the best mobile phone experience via battery, processor and camera. Second, they want a design and a brand which makes them stand apart.

"Third is of course security and fourth, which is most important, is ecosystem availability, which means my mobile phone and laptop talk to each other. The fourth aspect is the one which makes a strong case for Samsung to get a very strong powerful line, which is Book 2, in the picture," Poswal said.

Unveiling the Galaxy Book series of laptops, the company said the target market comprises professionals, enterprises, daily users and students.

The laptops will be priced between Rs 40,000 and Rs 1.2 lakh a unit.

"We will start pre-booking in the next 3-4 days," Poswal added.

According to IDC, India's traditional PC market, inclusive of desktops, notebooks and workstations, grew by 44.5 per cent year-over-year (YoY) in 2021.

The notebook category was the volume driver with shipments reaching 11.6 million units. The desktop category, which saw a steep decline in 2020, managed a recovery with 30 per cent YoY growth on account of strong demand from enterprises and consumer segments, IDC said