Samsung eyes bigger chunk of Philippine market

South Korean tech giant Samsung hopes to account for more than half of all mobile devices sold in the Philippines by the end of the year as it continues to improve its entire product line.

Data from Singaporean research firm GfK showed that 32 percent of mobile devices, including phones and tablets, sold in the country as of last November were made by Samsung.

However, Coco Domingo, product marketing head for Samsung Philippines’ mobile division, said the company’s market share could go up to more than 50 percent by the end of this year.

“We are targeting more than half by the end of the year. We are on track to meeting that, both in terms of units and value,” he told reporters on Tuesday.

Domingo said Samsung, which recently unseated Nokia as the world’s largest mobile phone maker, was unfazed over the impending threat of Apple’s next iPhone, expected to be released in the middle of next month.

Domingo said he believed that the Samsung Galaxy SIII (S3) released last June would continue to do well in the Philippines. The S3 is the best-selling premium-priced phone in Samsung’s lineup.

“We think demand for the S3 will remain strong. And we also have a surprise later this year,” Domingo said. He declined to give details on a potential new launch, particularly on whether he was referring to the long-awaited second-generation Samsung Galaxy Note.

Prior to the S3, the 5-inch-screen Note was Samsung’s best-selling phone in the high-end segment.

On Tuesday, Samsung announced that it would start selling its 7-inch Galaxy Tab 2.0 for as low as P12,990 for the 16 gigabyte, dual core, WiFi-only model.—Paolo G. Montecillo