Samsung bullish on netbook segment

The company is aiming to achieve seven to eight percent of marketshare in the
notebook and netbook sections in next one year. Having entered into the IT
segment a year before, Samsung India is now eying the netbook business and the
company is targeting to achieve seven to eight percent of marketshare in the
notebook and netbook section in next one year.

Though the presence of Samsung in PC business has not yet become very
significant, the company is confident that it would soon get the recognition of
a volume capturing company.

“We started our operation in IT segment just a year back. Looking at the
market trend, netbooks and notebooks have got high potential and Samsung India
will focus on this segment. This is the first time that we are selling these
products in the Indian market and we are confident that our channel strategies,
value-added features and cost-efficient product range will drive us to the top
five in the country,” said Seongwoo Nam, SVP and general manager-Computer
Systems Division, Digital Media and Communications Business.

Samsung India is expanding its presence for notebooks from the top nine
cities to a pan India performance by next year. The company is present in the
large format retail stores like Croma, e-zone and the contribution of LFR to
their notebook sales is estimated to be around 10 percent. To get a large
marketshare, Samsung is aiming at developing products that are designed to meet
the require­ments of the local customers.

Talking about the challenges, Nam mentioned, “A big challenge that we are
facing in market is the brand awareness. Since we entered the IT business only a
year before, customers are not yet fully aware of the brand. However, we are
moving step by step and by next year, Samsung India will have higher
visibility.”

Touching upon the verticals that the company will target for the notebook
segment, Ranjit Singh Yadav, director-IT business said that Samsung is
extensively focusing on the consumer and the education segments as they are the
emerging buyers of netbooks.

He further mentioned that the netbook market globally is expected to grow to
42 million units from 28 million units this year and in India it is expected to
double this year from around 200,000 units to around 3,00,000 to 5,00,000.