Yes! Samsung is adding new members to its ‘S’ family, and this has been the talk of the town since months. Samsung is launching 4 new devices this month Samsung S10, S10+ S10e and Samsung Galaxy Fold.
These latest Smartphone devices were unveiled at Unpacked events which has taken place in San Francisco and London on 20th February 2019.
On March 16, 2018 Samsung S9 was released and its variants followed therein. But after almost a year Samsung is set to release additions to their most successful ‘S’ series.
In Pakistan, mobile phone users have reached nearly 155 Million. But out of them, only 26% Pakistanis own a smartphone. However, Google puts Pakistan amongst the top 4 developing countries that will give next billion smartphone users which makes Pakistan a prominent market for smartphone companies.
Samsung is said to be the most famous brand with 41.12% market share in Pakistan. Followed by this is Huawei which has captured a Market Share of 13.89%. While 6.07% smartphone users rely on Q-Mobile devices which is just above Nokia’s share.
This is interesting to note that Apple Iphone have 10 times lesser Market share in Pakistan as compared to Samsung. Apple holds a market share of just 4.04%
There is no doubt concerning the credibility of Samsung’s devices. They have continually performed well in the market, offering a range of innovative-featured products.
But the question that arises in one’s mind is, “Will people continue switching to or buying such expensive devices for slight improvisations with every new model?” Well, with the new S10 series, Samsung’s market share in Pakistan might witness a fall; Let’s see why.
Considerable Options:
Why pay more when you have cheaper options to choose from? While Samsung’s market share in Pakistan has increased slightly in 2018 while other smartphone brands are gaining more attention. Brands like Huawei, Xiaomi and Oppo are offering the same specifications as an android phone but at affordable prices.
Huawei’s budget phone Honor has started 2019 with its successful “Honor view 20” with 4000mAh battery time and front camera without a notch and 48 megapixels rear camera, all in Rs. 89,999.
Even Huawei P20 Pro which launched in April 2018 stands as the most successful Huawei phone of 2018 with 4000mAh battery, triple 40 megapixels rear and 24 megapixels front camera and 128 GB built-in memory, all in Rs. 99,999.
There is a glaring gap between the prices of S10 and these phones. Some of the supporting features of Galaxy S10 are pretty new but with these features come with a heavy price tag which makes it unlikely for Pakistani’s to purchase the new S10 series.
It is very expensive:
Samsung is launching the S series with S10, S10 plus, S10e and Galaxy fold. The price range of these phones are expected to be Rs. 164,999, 179,999, 75,000 and 300,000-350,000, respectively. The new specifications are great when you read about them.
However, in reality; they are not really different from what other brands have already offered in the past. Truly, last year was tremendous for Chinese companies like Huawei and Xiaomi as they both expanded in Europe. The Chinese smartphone market, which was previously dominated by Apple, now is taken over by Huawei.
Safety Concerns
Around 35% of smartphone users in Pakistan carry a low cost phone with them for safety reasons. Snatching has been an increasingly alarming issue in Pakistan since long now which has forced people to spend less on expensive phones and purchase affordable phones, which if even snatched away, wouldn’t hurt them as much as losing an Apple or Samsung device would.
Samsung Note7’S exploding tales
People haven’t really forgotten what happened to their new Samsung Note 7 in 2016. Battery defects caused many Note 7 units to overheat and combust or explode. On 10 October 2016, Samsung permanently discontinued the Galaxy Note 7 due to these repeated incidents.
But what continues today is a question on the credibility of new Samsung phones. Even though it has been almost 2 years now and during this time Samsung has repeatedly worked on ways to redeem themselves, people who bought Note 7 are still haunted by their past experience.
Increase in government taxes:
Government of Pakistan have increased custom duty on the import of Smartphone in the first mini budget announced in Sep 2018. Mobile Phone prices in Pakistan increased due to increasing taxes. Furthermore Government started Custom duty collection from individuals who were carrying smartphones from abroad.
The FBR, recently, brought the new government’s attention to the tax shortfall and recommended ways to reduce it by restoring the taxes that were previously suspended.
The revival of such taxes will affect the income of the salaried class and bring changes to consumption patterns and reduce their purchasing power. This will surely turn out to be of considerable loss to Samsung’s market share in Pakistan.
No matter how attractive the new features are, this increase will make them continue using their existing phones and pushback any expensive purchase.
The new Samsung 10 series are going to be tremendously expensive smartphones and considering the current market of this economy, only time will tell whether Pakistanis are ready for it or not.