Samsung, in the year 2005, recorded a handsome turnover of Rs.6,300 crore in the Indian market. And, in 2006, Samsung has aimed for more – introduced their EFT and Magic Slim Monitors – another example of Samsung’s technological innovation in the Indian market. Not only this, they also launched the world’s Slimmest CDT Monitor, “Magic Green Slim” monitor, 704MS Plus in the Indian market. This is not all. Much more is expected to come from the house of Samsung in the coming days. Further, Samsung also seems to have adopted transparent channel engagement policies.”VARIndia meets Sanjay Sharma, Vice-President – IT of Samsung India, to know the new channel avatar of the company better.
In the middle of the calendar year 2006, Samsung introduced its EFT and Magic Slim Monitors – another example of Samsung’s technological innovation in the Indian market.’“Available in 15” and 17” screen sizes, the Samsung Eye Fresh Technology monitors are differentiated on account of their unique Magic Green technology. The monitors have a vital coating on the rear that emits Anions and Far Infrared rays that serve to make the environment fresh, relax the human body and ease the strain on the human eyes,” informed Sanjay.
Samsung also launched the world’s Slimmest CDT Monitor, “Magic Green Slim” monitor, 704MS Plus in the Indian market. The “Magic Green Slim” with its sleek and innovative design has a depth of mere 358mm. The next launch was their new, advanced SH-S182D 18X Super-WriteMaster. In a market dominated by 16x DVD writer, this 18x DVD-writer can write with the world’s fastest speeds and supports all CD/DVD formats including DVD-RAM, so the consumers no longer have to bother about choosing the right media.
The company plans to go for a significant range enhancement this month by introducing three new network printers and two new colour printers in the Indian market. The new network printers are expected to be introduced in the Rs.12,000/- - Rs.25,000/- price bracket.
Transparent Channel Engagement
There have been a lot of changes in Samsung in terms of channel engagements in India. When Sanjay was asked to elaborate on the transparency brought in by Samsung in the channel vendor engagement, he replied, “To ensure that our dealer partners enjoy confidence in the brand, since last year we have been following transparent and process-oriented guidelines for our IT business. We do not recommend our Star Elite partners to carry more than 10 days inventory since we do not offer price protection on dealer stocks. Distributor pricing is standard and no variance is entertained for support from Samsung. Large deal pricing support is provided only against end-user confirmation by Samsung sales team and receipt of order details.”
Samsung is focussing on the right pricing of their products at launch in order to ensure and minimize price protection scenario and also maximize the business potential. “Furthermore, our partners can at any time, using their password and ID, log on to the Samsung site and check out their buying and selling information, the amount due to them,” he added.
He informed, “The Awesome Twosome Scheme was designed to help the home customers upgrade from a CRT Monitor to an LCD Monitor. The Scheme sought to upgrade the customer by giving him/her reasons in terms of technological superiority of product as well as greater value, since any customer buying a 17” Samsung TFT LCD Monitor got a Printer ML 1610 free with the product between February 15 and March 31, 2006.” This scheme gave a strong fillip to their LCD Monitor business in the Q1 of the year, and helped the company to achieve a growth of over 200 per cent in our LCD business in the first eight months of the year.
“Next Samsung ‘Bond to Win’ was also a very successful programme that we ran for our IT resellers and System Integrators and helped us achieve a strong growth for our Volume products – HDDs, Colour Monitors and OMS products,” added Sanjay.
Service Support
The company plans to carry out a free service camp for all its products, including their Colour Monitors and Multifunction printers in the month of November. Adding to this, Sanjay informed, “We have also expanded the service network for HDD and ODD to cover 119 cities across India from around 60 locations that we operated till August 2006. The increase in the number of service centres is taking place in the B & C Class towns.” For printers and monitors, Samsung already has service centres in about 120-plus locations. They will also be working towards improving service stock capability at key locations to offer more prompt repair/replacement service for IT products.
In the end…
Samsung’s strategy in the year 2006 is to lead the technological revolution in the marketplace through Product innovation in Display (CRT and LCD), and other product categories. A good example of that is the recent introduction of their EFT and Magic Slim Monitors as well as their wide format 19” LCD Monitors. In a market dominated by 16x DVD writer, Samsung’s new 18x DVD-writer that can write with the world’s fastest speed and supports all CD/DVD formats including DVD-RAM is creating a buzz. Now, the consumers no longer have to bother about choosing the right media. Another focussed category for the company this year is Printers, where the company aims a 100-per cent jump this year. They also expect LCD Monitors to drive high-end sales and brand image. We are in the process of strengthening our presence in the B & C class cities this year for our IT business,” added Sanjay.
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