By Kim Tae-gyu
Samsung Electronics tries to revive its past glory in the Chinese smartphone market by adding tailor-made features to its large-screen phone, Galaxy Note 7, Samsung officials said Monday.
The company held an unveiling event for the jumbo phone in China last Friday to garner preorders before its official introduction there slated for early next month.
“Chinese customers showed a favorable response to the Note 7, in particular to such functionality as iris scanning. We expect the Note 7 will chalk up good results,” a Samsung official said.
Observers attribute the early popularity to Samsung’s efforts to customize the device to China-specific needs ― Samsung came up with a unique color lineup of blue, gold and black unlike in other markets.
In addition, Samsung considers introducing a model which has internal storage pegged at 128GB, double of the standard model’s 64GB.
“There are needs for bigger storage in China. Hence, we think of marketing the Note 7 with 128GB storage. The final decision has yet to be made, though,” the official said.
“We hope that along with the recently-launched Galaxy S7, the Galaxy Note 7 will increase our market share in China’s premium segment while the Galaxy C sells more briskly in the mid-tier sector.”
Samsung Electronics is the world’s largest maker of smartphones and it once maintained leadership in the world’s most populous country. But homegrown players overtook the tech giant on the back of price competitiveness.
According to U.S.-based market consultancy IDC, Huawei was leading China’s smartphone market in the second quarter of 2016 with a share of 17.2 percent closed followed by OPPO with 16.2 percent and Vivo with 13.2 percent.
Xiaomi came at fourth with 9.5 percent chased by former stellar sellers Apple and Samsung.
Samsung, which had assumed market supremacy for years since 2011, was nudged past by Chinese manufacturers in the third quarter of 2014. Thereafter, it has failed to retake the top place.
Watchers point out that the Note 7 equipped with cutting-edge technology, such as an iris-scanner and advanced stylus, offers an opportunity for Samsung to disrupt the rankings in its favor.
Since its introduction in about 10 nations this month, the Note 7 has won customers as Samsung struggled to meet global demands.
The back-to-back hit after its regular-size smartphone Galaxy S7’s success this year boosted the share price of the largest-cap firm at the Seoul bourse some 30 percent over the past eight months.
“Samsung ran the risk of being relegated to a second-tier smartphone maker in China as it was elbowed out of the top five table. Against this backdrop, it would want to make noise with the Note 7,” said a Seoul analyst.
“If Samsung vies to make it to the top five list, it would also have to sell more not only in high-end areas but in the mid-ranges too.”