Samsung Galaxy S4 - iPhone 4, iPad 3, Dodocase (Photo credit: Janitors)
The start of the week saw a lot of speculation about the future of the smartphone. Has it peaked/ has it not? Well, maybe but competition is intensifying anyway, particularly on price in the high and mid ranges.
It looks like Google Google will soon put $500 million into launching a new Motorola smartphone against Samsung and Apple products in a market where price reductions and deals will be commonplace.
There are doubts around where Google will pitch the phone with some speculation it will be at $199. That would be a nudge-type product but Motorola cannot be seen as Google?s poodle ? that?s the role of the Nexus. Motorola needs to launch a high end product, even if it intends to chase the lower end of the market later.
Samsung will very likely launch the Note 3 at the same time that the Motorola and new iPhone go on sale. It has begun aggressive pricing of the Galaxy S4 to ensure that it maintains market share in what looks like being a tough summer and Fall. The S4 is now, in many locations, cheaper than a basic iPhone, even though it costs more to produce.
Samsung is using extra margin in its new S4 family, where key component costs are lower, to make a statement about price rather than to claw more profit from its premium smartphones. When the original Galaxy S4 launched in Europe in April Samsung customers paid a premium? of up to Euro 695, or $895 at today?s exchange rate.
Since then the price has come down to about Euro 550 (about $700) and eager customers are expected to pay about the same for the new S4 Active, which is due out soon in Sweden.
In contrast, the iPhone 5 costs ?529 in the UK, nearly $790, for the 16 GB version and ?699 or over $1,000 for the 64 GB version, on the Apple online store (of course you can get it ?free? on contract). The original S4 is now $90 cheaper than the basic iPhone.
In India, where Samsung wants to capture big market share with the S4, the S4 Mini went on sale earlier this week at just $465, the Zoom at $500, according to the Economic Times.The Mini in the UK is priced at a whopping $645.
In India a regular S4 now priced at about $600. Samsung has said it wants the new S4s to make up as much as 20% of its Indian smartphone sales by year end:
?Galaxy S4 has received a phenomenal response since its launch in the Indian market. We are confident that Mini and Zoom will also do well?we expect the S4 range to comprise 15-20 per cent of our smartphone sales (volume) from India by the end of this year,? Samsung director (mobile business) Manu Sharma told PTI.
T Mobile has been selling the S4 for $579 contract free in the US over the past month (Google?s version if $649). The cheapest iPhone 5 is $649 in the Apple store.
Pricing is always compounded by carrier deals but the relative costs of the S4 and iPhone 5, a new phone versus one nearing its anniversary, are instructive.
In the highly price sensitive US market Apple are much closer to Samsung and the S4. In Europe, a tough market right now with buyers sitting on their hands and inventory building up, Samsung has discounted already. And in India it has set the price of its cheaper S4 variants with an eye to gaining market share just as Apple gears up for a cheaper iPhone launch for the fast-developed markets.
Samsung?s pricing is aided by downgrading the chips, cameras and displays in it new S4s. It?s a hidden strategy that could prove very effective in a tight market. The Active has a lower quality display, camera and chip but additional cost in the dust and water proofing and in the more rugged casing. The Mini is a big cost saver and it seems the Zoom is too.
It means that variants of the S4 are priced to compete with whatever Apple comes out with this Fall with the Note 3 flying the flag as the premium phone.
The Note and S4 ranges cover price points from $465 to $800. Google will need its large marketing budget to make an impression in this range.
Hansel and Gretel LGBT Giovanna Plowman martin luther king jr quotes Inauguration 2013 Tony Gonzalez Richard Blanco
কোন মন্তব্য নেই:
একটি মন্তব্য পোস্ট করুন