Samsung's top executive on Monday said that the company will invest in setting up smart manufacturing capabilities at its mobile phone plant in Noida, reported PTI. Samsung Electronics President and Head of Mobile eXperience Business T M Roh told the news agency that the company will continue to invest in research and development facilities in the country.
"We will continue our investment to bring the optimised and or smart factory to the Noida facilities. We will continue our investment there. I believe that our investment for the smart factory will bring competitiveness in the production," Roh said.
In 1996, Samsung opened a manufacturing and R&D facility in India, that presently employs about 70,000 people. Samsung currently operates the second-largest manufacturing facility in the world in Noida, and its largest R&D facility is in Bengaluru, India. Samsung has around 10,000 employees at its R&D centres across India, out of which the largest base of close to 3,500 is located at its Bengaluru centre. The company began producing its high-end Galaxy S23 series in India this year.
"We have the biggest research and development centre here. For the new innovation we will continue our investment in this area," Roh said.
According to Roh, India will have 1 billion smartphone users by 2026 with the largest population of GenZ and GenY in the world.
T M Roh told PTI, “Samsung India has been focussing on make in India, make for India. We are not only meeting the domestic need but also use it as a hub for export. It could not have been possible to be competitive without collaboration with local partners. The technology collaboration will continue with local partners. We have products for export, which are done in close collaboration with local vendors. In the case of OLED display manufacturing, we have been closely working with local vendors.”
Responding to the question regarding efforts to catch up with iPhone maker Apple in the premium segment, Roh said, “Our strategy to increase our market share in the premium segment in India is to understand the needs of Indian customers. To increase the market share, we want to enhance the customers' content creation experience and also bring the features to enable that.”
Samsung led the premium segment in value terms with a 22 per cent market share while Apple held an 18 per cent market share, the report said.