Samsung is showing Apple why localisation in India is king with the new Galaxy S10

Yesterday I wrote that Samsung’s Galaxy S10 models were understated masterstrokes, and even before the dust has settled around these phones, the South Korean company’s inherent “Make-in-India” advantage has come to light over its archrival Apple, in the world’s second largest smartphone market. Samsung’s Galaxy S10 models start at Rs 55,900 topping out at Rs 1,17,900 in India while after a round of discounts Apple’s slightly older 2018 iPhone models start in India at Rs 67,999 topping out Rs 1,44,900 in India. And mind you, Samsung’s phone hasn’t even hit the market yet and were just announced two days ago and basically, are super cutting edge and fresh with superior SKUs as opposed to the 4-month-old iPhones.

The pricing for the Samsung models go something like this —

• S10E: 6GB RAM/128GB: Rs 55,900
• S10:8GB RAM/128GB: Rs 66,900
• S10: 8GB RAM/512GB: Rs 84,900
• S10+: 8GB RAM/128GB: Rs 73,900
• S10+:8GB RAM/512GB storage: Rs 91,900
• S10+ ceramic:12GB RAM/1TB storage: Rs 1,17,900

This makes one thing clear. Samsung’s advantage of manufacturing its own hardware in India is giving it quite a substantial advantage in pricing in India. Of course, even when one compares the US dollar pricing, the new Galaxy S10 models are modestly cheaper than the 2018 iPhone XR, XS and XS Max models — but there is no denying the fact that the gulf widens because of the fact Apple isn’t manufacturing these phones in India.

The pricing for the Apple iPhones isn’t pretty. Even when looking at Amazon India there is a gulf between all the models which can be quite jarring. Take a look —

• iPhone XR 64GB: Rs 67,999
• iPhone XR 128GB: Rs 72,999
• iPhone XR 256GB: Rs 82,999
• iPhone XS 64GB: Rs 98,140
• iPhone XS 256GB: Rs 1,09,900
• iPhone XS 512GB: Rs 1,34,900
• iPhone XS Max 64GB: Rs 1,04,900
• iPhone XS Max 256GB: Rs 1,19,900
• iPhone XS Max 512GB: Rs 1,44,900

Here we aren’t even talking about the fact that the new Galaxy phones have more sophisticated displays, bigger batteries which also offer reverse wireless charging and fast charging, double camera systems on the S10e as opposed to the single camera system on the iPhone XR and triple cameras on the S10 models compared to dual cameras on the iPhone XS models with the goodness of the good old headphone jack and a bucketload of other features, and heavier duty memory options for much lesser.

In India, Samsung’s phones also come with a home ground advantage. As bad Bixby is, a lot of it was developed out of India so it works decently. In the case you don’t want it, the Bixby button can be remapped to Google Assistant which works like a boss in India. Then there is the case of Samsung Pay which works with point of sale (PoS) machines, unlike Apple Pay which still isn’t available in India after launching almost 5 years ago. Now, Samsung’s phones are also going to come preloaded with Spotify in India as indicated by review units handed to the press which means Samsung is also leveraging its global relationships and bringing more meaningful services to India. Samsung’s advantage becomes undeniable.

Like I wrote a couple of weeks ago, Apple needs to do a couple of things to turn this around but this wouldn’t be an overnight fix.

• It has started making its phones in India and selling them through its own stores as soon as possible. Manufacturing should start soon for the premium models but Apple stores are still far off maybe beyond 2020.
• It needs a better entry point than the iPhone XR. Indian users are very perceptive about features — they want their OLED screens, dual cameras, fast charging and headphone jacks. Apple has to start playing ball or offer something more like the iPhone SE.
• The localisation of services is key — Apple Pay has to start working in India neatly, just like Apple Maps is starting to make some kind of usability headway. Siri has to start supporting Hindi too — because there are many rich people in smaller towns too, but if they can’t speak in English what’s the point of an iPhone?

Localisation is king in India and Samsung is showing this off with the Galaxy S10 range pricing in India.