Samsung India is planning one of its biggest blitz in the mid smartphone segment with 4G compatible made-in-India devices. The launches under the sub brand of ‘J series’, are expected to happen in the July – September quarter of 2015. The entry and the mid smartphone segments in India together will account for 80% of the market share by volumes and 50% by value in 2015, per our latest report: BRIC Country Smartphone Revenues, ASPs & Price-Tier Forecasts: 2009 to 2020.

The focus on Galaxy A, Galaxy E, Galaxy J, and the Z families from Samsung recently, are a clear indication of its strategy and the target segment it wants to go after in India and China, as it takes on the local competition. In India, Samsung has already released the A, E and Z families in the first quarter of 2015 along with one off model from the J series (J1). The new phones from J series (J2, J5 and J7) are likely to be priced between US$ 112 – US$ 224 (wholesale prices).

Samsung faces intense competition from the local Indian vendors like Micromax, Karbonn, Lava etc. who together took over 40% of the smartphone market in 2014. The Indian Smartphone market is among the fastest growing, globally and is set to become the second largest with volumes to the tune of 174 million units by 2017 (as reported in our latest Smartphone sales forecast, available by countries, here).