SAMSUNG Philippines executives said they want to keep the South Korean telephone manufacturer to remain on top by launching more innovative products, as analysts said Apple is closing the gap in smartphone shipments.
“This quarter, there’s a really big push that’s going to happen on March 1. We’ve got a big surprise coming out,” Diego Dimagiba, Samsung Imaging and Mobile Business Unit director, said in an interview. Data from International Data Corp. (IDC) revealed Samsung remained the leader in the worldwide smartphone market for the fourth quarter of 2014 and for the full year. Nonetheless, IDC said, the vendor “experienced continued competitive realities.”
“With increased pressure in the high end from Apple, and at the low end to midrange from Chinese manufacturers Xiaomi, Huawei, ZTE and others, Samsung faces a multifront battle,” IDC said.
IDC data revealed Apple reached a new quarterly shipment record in the fourth quarter of 2014 but “fell just short of surpassing Samsung for overall leadership in the smartphone market.”
“An elevated consumer appetite for big-screen devices, as well as Apple’s push into China and other countries, saw iPhone sales up 44 percent in the US” and up 97 percent in Brazil, Russia, India and China, the so-called BRIC bloc, IDC said.
“We’re still the market leader. We aim to be at the top forever,” Dimagiba said, when asked of Samsung’s market share in the country.
For a populated country such as the Philippines, Dimagiba stressed the importance of the country in the Southeast Asian market.
“If you look at Southeast Asia, we are the third most populous country. Filipinos’ penchant for mobile phones is one of the reasons the Philippines is quite an important market for Samsung. We were even once dubbed as the texting capital of the world.”
Dimagiba added that Filipino consumers’ preference for smartphones and appliances also changes.
“The Philippines is one of the few economies that continue to grow. As people gets richer, they seek [the] finer things in life.”
Dimagiba said the firm’s 2015 lineup will feature the so-called living appliances, such as washing machines, vaccum cleaners, air conditioners and air purifiers.
Lenie Lectura