Samsung expects India's tab market to revive this year

NEW DELHI: Tech giant Samsung is confident of revival in the Indian tablet PC market this year and has launched its first 4G tablet in the sub-Rs 10,000 category.

Vishal Kaul, Director at Samsung India, said the segment has seen de-growth in the past quarters, but the company has been able to expand its market share.

"Tablets are more of companion devices and we have been focusing on the various use cases of this form factor. The Galaxy Tab A 7.0 is our first 4G tablet in the sub Rs 10,000- category and we are confident it will do well," he told PTI.


The Galaxy Tab A 7.0, priced at Rs 9,500, features a 4000mAH battery, providing up to 9 hours of video playback.

"With Galaxy Tab A 7.0, we are providing our customers a device that is the perfect blend of refined design, superior display great performance and non-stop entertainment," he said.

It caters to "on-the-go" and "me-time" needs of consumers, thereby acting as a perfect companion for their active lifestyle, he added.

Kaul said the consumer segment should see sales picking up with data becoming more affordable and increased availability of quality content.

Citing GfK data, he said Samsung had 51 per cent value market share in the consumer tablet segment in November 2017, while in volume terms, it had 47 per cent share.

Kaul added that the sub-Rs 10,000 category accounts for about 46 per cent of overall market volume.

According to research firm IDC, 1.1 million tablets were shipped in India in the July-September 2017 quarter, up 3 per cent from the same period in the previous year.

Lenovo had 26 per cent share, followed by Acer (18.6 per cent share), Samsung (14.6 per cent), iBall (13.1 per cent) and Datawind (12.7 per cent).