Samsung unveils a range of new products at DQW Awards night

With the culmination of the first quarter of this fiscal, Samsung Electronics

India Information and Telecom Ltd, the 100 percent IT and telecom subsidiary of

Samsung Electronics Co of Korea, has come close to its aspiration of being the

market leader. Keeping in tune to its efforts of making the reseller community

in perfect sync with their marketing objective, Samsung unveiled a completely

new range of display devices and printers at the DQ Week award ceremony, which

saw a gathering of more than 450 top resellers of the capital and some other

major north Indian cities.

Monitor market has always seen Samsung as the lone leader of display in the

Indian market. Pocketing more than 50 percent of the total market in JFM, Vivek

Prakash, GM, Samsung India, finds the next three quarters as the most crucial

period in the history of the company. Looking at the market trends, he affirms

with the market and agrees that market growth is not only stagnant but is rather

dwarfing.

Prakash is looking at a two-fold market approach. “Our approach is time

tested, creating push in market and at the same time, value adding the

forthcoming models. It is consumer's psyche to choose from various

models-greater is the range of models, more is the demand. It is one of the

basic rules in marketing and Samsung cannot leave any lacunae, thus further

segmentation of market is the focus. Besides this, value-adding innovations are

not needed anymore, but a ground reality. And we understand this. Our model

mutations are aimed not at increasing the technical specifications but to

leverage the customer's usage delight.”

Samsung is envisaging elevating the monitor market, especially the home

segment, from 15 inch monitors to 17 inch monitor as an entry level display

option. According to Prakash, consumer is not yet educated and it is aiming not

to create brand awareness but to improve the knowledge of the buyer segment

about the right choice. As of now the whole selection process is technically

driven instead of the user-friendly attributes. “A display device constitutes

the most important part for any PC, as it is the only user interface and

Internet becoming ubiquitous its imperative to buy an above average monitor.”

He sees educating the same as the need of the hour.

Samsung also does not believe in providing mere single solution in the

monitor range but to converge it into a television or a gaming station or to

more specific usage for various sectors. With 18 to 20 models waiting in the

wings, the company plans to provide a vast range from LCD to TFT display

products that receive both analog and digital signals.

Its Syncmaster 240T, world’s first and only 24 inch TFT, has proved to be a

runaway success in hospitality industry and corporate sector. Prakash finds

these multifunction display devices as a lucrative business proposition. As per

the current trends in market, where a PC purchase is replacing second TV buying,

consumer-buying power is increasing tremendously. Other factor that is affecting

sales according to him, is the redundancy protection. These new models are not

only state-of-art products, but also compete with the latest technology.

Monitor market is maturing and so are the demands. No longer Prakash views

monitor as a box to be pushed through channels but as a very visible commodity.

The latest marketing tools for the display products would be interactive modes

of promotion along with the consumer educative events. Overall, Samsung aims to

cross the one million mark in monitors in calendar 2001 as compared to six lakh

it sold in 2000.

With document business expanding, printer market has been identified by

Samsung as a very viable proposition and has unveiled the opulent range in the

same event. Armed with 13 models in total, laser printer market is set to see

Samsung logo in play soon! Fortifying the market through slow and steady moves

in market will be the approach for them. Prakash does not want to ensue another

price war, but wants to carve out a niche segment of its own. Ranging from

network printers to home printers it also offers multifunction printers. He

foresees other innovative methods of marketing rather than channels to rule the

marketing tactics of this Korean giant.

The company claims to have 50 percent of the total Hard Disk Drive (HDD) sold

through the channels in India. Prakash attributes this success to a strong

inventory management and a no price protection policy. Recently Samsung achieved

an investment target of $ 1.1 million in India to support and service its HDD

business. This investment has been made over the last one year across its

network of service centers in 11 cities. This investment has mainly been made

for hardware, electronic equipment, Web tracking system and spares. It has also

invested substantially in giving a three-year warranty as compared to one-year

warranty offered by other HDD Vendors. Overall, the company is hoping to sell

7.5 lakh HDDs in India in calendar 2001 as compared to three lakh sold in 2000.

Prakash also shared the success of the portal www.buildurpc.com, which came

in as a surprising success to Samsung. With two million hits a day he now wants

to use this potent portal as a promotional tool and leverage other products

through this portal. Buildurpc.com is set for a complete design and content

revamp.

Samsung views the current year with awe and carries a very optimistic lookout

for the market. With good service strategy backing its technically strong market

presence, the company is aiming at a turnover of at least Rs 1,200 crore in this

fiscal.