Samsung To Stop Selling Low-cost Feature Phones In India

According to a report by The Economic Times, South Korean electronics giant Samsung plans to withdraw from the Indian feature phone market. Reportedly, the final batch of Samsung feature phones will be manufactured by Dixon in December this year. After that, the company will stop manufacturing feature phones in India. Samsung is said to be shifting its focus to higher prices tiers.

Samsung is one of the two major multinational companies contributing to the government's Production-Linked Incentive (PLI) program. According to ET, Samsung is committed to taking into account price savings only in the production of handsets worth more than Rs 15,000.

Feature phones are on the decline in India. According to a Counterpoint Research report, the market in the first quarter of 2022 was down 39% year-on-year. Samsung, a market leader until a few years ago, lags behind Itel and Lava in the feature phone market, a Counterpoint Research report said.

By the end of March, Samsung's basic phone segment was only 1% worth and 20% volume, according to the ET report. Samsung executives told ET that the company expects double-digit growth in the second quarter of 2022.