For a company whose name very few could – and many still can’t – pronounce correctly to being the number one smartphone brand in the country, Xiaomi has truly come a long way in India. It’s one brand that gradually understood that at the end of the day in a price-conscious market like India, people are craving for value-for-money offerings . In that sense, Xiaomi gained first-mover advantage over competition like Honor, Asus and more importantly, the brand it dethroned from the top spot: Samsung.
For a while Samsung had the edge – both in terms of market share and products – over its rivals till Xiaomi appeared on the horizon. After a few setbacks, Samsung seems to be upping the ante with its latest Galaxy M series of smartphones. Samsung is looking to do to Xiaomi what Xiaomi did to others: offer a value proposition that can’t be ignored in these hyper-competitive price segments.
With the Galaxy M series of smartphones, Samsung is looking to attack two of Xiaomi’s domains – the sub Rs 10,000 segment and the sub Rs 15,000 segment. In both the segments, Xiaomi has had a glorious run with its Redmi and Redmi Note range of smartphones. The Redmi Note has been one of the most successful phones in India whereas the Redmi series too has been a success.
The thing with the Redmi and Redmi Note Pro smartphones is that they are competent performers retailing at attractive price points. The key factor worked in Xiaomi’s favour has been that it has a phone variant at almost every price point between Rs 7,000-Rs 15,000. In a way, Xiaomi took a page out Maruti’s hugely successful playbook in the Indian auto industry. Maruti has a car at every Rs 10,000-Rs 15,000 starting from Rs 2.5 lakh to Rs 10 lakh.
For a while now Samsung attempted to undercut Xiaomi’s numbers with its J series of smartphones but they just lacked the oomph. By the time Samsung got into the price game, Xiaomi had taken a lead and for the last three quarters it has maintained that.
Samsung’s Galaxy M series: The right value proposition?
Samsung’s phones in competition to Xiaomi didn’t had the right value proposition. For instance, the J6 – priced at Rs 13,990 – and a direct competitor of Redmi Note 6 Pro – featured a single rear camera and less powerful battery. Redmi Note 6 Pro has a dual rear camera set up and a 4000mAh battery while the J6 had a 3000mAh battery and a single 13MP rear camera.
With the Galaxy M10 and M20 smartphones, Samsung has bundled all things nice at a relatively lower price. Both the smartphones feature a notch display, big-sized battery and cameras that on paper look to offer great value. These three are features that most buyers connect with the most in the two segments the phones have been launched in.
Another factor that can’t be ignored that Xiaomi’s core competence lies in value-for-money offerings while Samsung fights in the premium segment as well. Xiaomi’s ‘experiments’ with slightly premium phones have been big, fat duds so far. The Poco F1 seems to be the only exception and even that isn’t a premium phone per se. While the pudding maybe in the premium segment, the bread and butter lies in the budget segment. Xiaomi learnt that and Samsung could have overlooked that.
Samsung may have not kept its eyes on the ball for a while but all things with the Galaxy M10 and M20 point to the fact that this perhaps may just be the moment when the empire strikes back.
Samsung Galaxy M10
Summary
performance
Octa core
display
6.22" (15.8 cm)
storage
16 GB
camera
13 MP + 5 MP
battery
3400 mAh
ram
2 GB
See Full Specifications
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Source: gadgetsnow.com
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