Officials of International Marketing Services (IMS) - the authorized distributor of Samsung in Nepal - confirmed that prices of Samsung smartphones would go down form the first week of January. “But we can´t say by how much margin the prices will be cut as we are yet to get confirmation from Samsung,” an official of IMS said.
A snap survey conducted by Republica shows Samsung is losing market share, albeit marginally, and new smartphone brands like Micromax, Colors, Lenovo and Sony, among others, are making gains. Lenovo, which is yet to be launched formally here, is gaining popularity in Nepal.
A New Road-based dealer of Samsung told Republica that IMS is decreasing prices of Samsung smartphones by 8-15 percent from the first week of January. “Samsung smartphones are priced comparatively higher in Nepal than other countries, including India and Thailand,” the dealer said preferring anonymity. “Stiff competition in the market is forcing IMS to go for a price cut.”
Samsung India had slashed prices of various smartphone models in October. It had reduced price of Galaxy S4 Mini (16GB) and Galaxy S3 by around IRs 4,000. According to Times of India, Samsung had cut the price of its flagship phablet -- Galaxy Note 3 -- by IRs 2,000 in October end within a month of its launch.
“If I get all the features that a Samsung phone has on a cheaper phone, there is no point paying more for just the brand,” Alisa Pradhananga, a user of Colors phone, told Republica.
Vivek Sharma Dhandh, managing director of Virgin Mobiles, said people do not hesitate to pay ay amount for new gadgets with latest features. “But if they get the same features at lower price, they will definitely go for it regardless of the brand,” he added.
As the average life of mobile phones is around two years and technology gets updated day by day, dealers say people prefer to carry phones with affordable price tag and keep changing them time and again.
Published This News on Republica Dec 26
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