Sunday, January 30, 2011

iPad Launch in India: High on novelty factor, Low on sales

After recently reporting on the traction the Samsung Galaxy Tab has got in India, I was looking forward to the channel check on the reception that the Apple iPad has got in India. I visited multiple stores in Bangalore over this weekend (29/30-Jan) to get a sense of the interest that the iPad has generated in Bangalore. I visited the Apple iStores along with the multi-brand electronic retail chains carrying not only the iPad but also the Samsung Galaxy Tab and the Dell Streak. Even though iPad was launched on 28-Jan-11 (just a few days back at the time of the reporting) in India the findings were interesting.

Sunday, January 2, 2011

Samsung Galaxy Tab not doing well in India

While Samsung in India would like to claim that the Galaxy Tab is making inroads in India, channel checks on the Samsung Galaxy Tab indicate to the contrary.

Findings from 12 visits to stores of multiple retail chains in Bangalore, conducted over this weekend revealed that
  1. Not all stores chains like Chroma, Ezone etc are carrying the Samsung Galaxy Tab
  2. Most of the stores who claimed to be carrying the Samsung Galaxy Tab did not carry stock. They had one demo unit. 
  3. The salespersons interviewed indicate that while a lot of customers are ocming to have a look, the sales are low to negligible. 
  4. The biggest issue seen is the pricing at Rs 36,999 which seems to be a rip-off and is the main reason for the low pick up. The low pick up is leading to a tepid response from the retailers.
  5. The retail staff in stores have not been trained on the product. They are not sure what it does.
  6. The key takeaway is that the Samsung Galaxy Tab is expensive and is not selling in India
 While Samsung has been running a TV campaign and has billboards of the Samsung Galaxy Tab being sold along with the 3G connection from Aircel, the sales have not yet picked up.