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Updated January 29th, 2019 at 14:36 IST

Samsung Galaxy M: A ghost of missed opportunity continues to haunt Samsung till date

Folks over at Samsung have finally taken the wraps off their all-new Galaxy M-series for the first time in India. Samsung offers two new models under the series: The Galaxy M10 and Galaxy M20, both the devices are also available in multiple variants starting Rs 7,990 and Rs 10,990, respectively.

Reported by: Tanmay Patange
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Folks over at Samsung have finally taken the wraps off their all-new Galaxy M-series for the first time in India. Samsung offers two new models under the series: The Galaxy M10 and Galaxy M20, both the devices are also available in multiple variants starting Rs 7,990 and Rs 10,990, respectively.

By announcing a new Galaxy M series targeting pocket-friendly segments, Samsung has created yet another branding confusion in India's overcrowded budget segment. Unlike Samsung's super-expensive flagship models that are taken care of by none other than Galaxy S and Note-series, Samsung's multifaceted mid-tier and affordable models fall under way too many monikers in the form of Galaxy A, Galaxy On, Galaxy J-series and now most recently the Galaxy M Series. Unfortunately for Samsung all of these efforts have failed to outperform its biggest competitor in India: Xiaomi.

Once upon a time, Samsung had a tremendous opportunity to establish a strong presence in India's budget segment and to understand what went wrong, it's imperative that we go back in time.

Someone’s loss is always another’s gain

Struggle for Samsung in India started ever since it globally introduced the Galaxy J-series back in 2013. They were perhaps the good old days when no other brand could afford to challenge Samsung, the e-commerce boom was still in its early days and the concept of "flash sale" was fairly unknown to us. But perhaps biggest mistake Samsung made in India was waiting until 2015 to introduce the Galaxy J-series in India and that too with a mediocre set of hardware in the form of Samsung Galaxy J5 and Galaxy J7.

In 2014, Xiaomi disrupted India's sub Rs 15,000 segment by introducing Xiaomi Mi3 featuring Qualcomm Snapdragon 800. Before Xiaomi, nobody had ever expected to see a phone falling under such an affordable price bracket and providing users with powerful hardware and premium design - all at the same time.

Xiaomi Mi3

Image: Xiaomi Mi3

Also Read | Xiaomi beat Samsung to become top smartphone company in India in 2018: Counterpoint

That's how Manu Kumar Jain-led Xiaomi accomplished to seize massive attention from budget-conscious Indian buyers during the company's early days. Slowly and steadily, Xiaomi diverted buyers' attention to a separate line-up called the Redmi series to leave a similar impact on the low-end segment. Redmi surpassed all expectations and swiftly became the most popular low budget phone in India.

Samsung clearly missed the bus. It took Samsung almost 4 more years since then to realise the potential of India's mid-range segment.

Samsung's first Galaxy J-series phone - Galaxy J - was announced not in India but in Taiwan in 2013 before Xiaomi forayed into India with its low budget phone. Back then, it featured the same old Snapdragon 800 processor, something Xiaomi Mi3 put to its own benefit in 2014. Here, Samsung clearly missed the bus. It took Samsung almost 4 more years since then to realise the potential of India's mid-range segment.

A couple of years later, Samsung brought in yet another affordable series, this time it was the online-exclusive Galaxy On-series to cash in on the e-commerce boom in the country, but Samsung still couldn't make a splash in the affordable segment that was now crowded with Xiaomi devices and many others from that side of the world.

Samsung is still paying a huge price for things they did (or did not do) in the past

Samsung is still paying a huge price for things they did (or did not do) in the past. In fact, Samsung recently acknowledged the fact that they were "a little late to react".

They were, indeed. That's what calls for much-needed reform in the year 2019.

Samsung has now introduced a whole new Galaxy M-series with a trendy notch design, beefed up battery capacity and much more. From the first impressions of the newly-launched Galaxy M10 and M20 smartphones, it does seem like Samsung finally has its act together for the most popular sub- Rs 15000 smartphone segment but will it be Samsung's M for Masterstroke, only time will tell. 

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Published January 29th, 2019 at 14:36 IST

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