Samsung set to launch two sub-Rs. 15,000 smartphones in September

Samsung India is set to launch two sub-Rs. 15,000 smartphones in the country this month, according to a company spokesperson, a move that should intensify the competition in the bustling mid-range segment of the Indian mobile market.

The Korean company, which has a 49 percent share in India's smartphone segment, will offer options in local languages to attract non-English speaking customers.

"We will be launching two new smartphones priced for the mid-segment market. Every phone from Samsung will have nine vernacular language options," Samsung Country Head (Mobile Business) Vineet Taneja told PTI, without mentioning the prices.

However, a company official said the phones may be priced in the Rs. 5,000-15,000 range. Most mobile phones sold in India are within this price range, including the Nokia Lumia 520 and Lumia 620, Blackberry Curve series, and the Micromax Canvas and Xolo smartphone series.

The Samsung phones will offer access to content and applications in Hindi, Punjabi, Tamil, Bengali, Telugu, Kannada, Malayalam, Marathi and Gujarati.

"The competition now in the smart phone market is how to make the phone size small without compromising on the screen size," Taneja said.

The company is set to launch its premium high-end smartphone, the Galaxy Note 3, on Tuesday. Samsung currently offers about 17 smartphones priced between Rs. 5,000 (Samsung Star) and Rs. 39,000 (Galaxy S4).

Taneja said the company is focusing on the mid-end to high-end smart phone market and will provide dual-SIM option in all handsets.

"Going forward, you will see more and more dual-SIM phones coming up," he said.

According to telecom magazine Voice&Data, Samsung toppled Nokia from its leadership position in the financial year 2012-13 with revenue of Rs. 11,328 crore and a 31.5 percent market share. Nokia's market share stood at 27.2 percent.