India was one of the many markets in which the Galaxy Note 7 wasn't even released. Customers had placed pre-orders but the units were never shipped out. Samsung is now giving incentives to appease pre-order customers and has even decided to offer full refunds for imported Galaxy Note 7s. Given that it's one of the most lucrative markets for the company, Samsung India is focusing on festive sales this quarter, and it's confident that the Galaxy Note 7 is not going to impact smartphone sales this quarter. Samsung actually expects to gain additional market share.
Samsung has said that its festive sales are meeting expectations and that it's seeing record volumes in India this year. It's going to support the bottom line by increasingly focusing on the Galaxy S7 and the Galaxy S7 edge, as well as by launching additional models this quarter. “We have converted the Note 7 prebooked customers in India to S7 and S7 Edge. We are humbled by the loyalty of the consumers towards the brand. There is now a strong sales momentum on S7 and S7 Edge. By virtue of being a full range player with 25 models across segments, we are confident to grow our share and sales this quarter,” said Manu Sharma, vice president of the mobile business at Samsung India.
Estimates suggest that sales of the Galaxy S7 and the Galaxy S7 edge have doubled since last week in India when Samsung confirmed the discontinuation of the Galaxy Note 7. Samsung has also stepped up promotions for this handset to ensure that its market share is not stolen by the myriad of competitors fighting for a piece of the Indian smartphone market.
