Samsung announced the Galaxy S8 and S8+ for the Indian market yesterday, and the company is hoping that the new devices would help it reclaim its top spot in the country's premium smartphone segment. The company had lost its top spot in the premium segment to Apple last quarter due to the Galaxy Note 7 battery fiasco. The South Korean smartphone giant had a market share of 35 percent, while Apple had a market share of 62 percent in India's premium smartphone segment during in Q4 of 2017.
The company's Southwest Asian chief Hong Hyun-chil said, “In order to keep the promise of ‘Make for India,’ we have made all the Galaxy S8 series sold here in India,” during the press conference. Samsung also hopes that the rollout of its mobile payment service Samsung Pay would help it distinguish itself from the competition in the Indian market. The Galaxy S8 and S8+ would go on sale in India on May 5. The company is also facing a stiff competition from Xiaomi, which launched the Mi 6 yesterday in China for half the price of the Galaxy S8.
