Samsung Eyes Millennials With Smartphone Revamp

Samsung Electronics is overhauling the company’s smartphone strategy, lowering the price point of its handsets to appeal to more millennials.

CNBC, citing DJ Koh, the chief executive officer of Samsung Electronics, reported the company is redoing the pricing for its Galaxy A line of smartphones as it contends with a slowing market for smartphones.

“In the past, I brought the new technology and differentiation to the flagship model and then moved to the mid-end. But I have changed my strategy from this year to bring technology and differentiation points starting from the mid-end,” Koh told CNBC in an exclusive interview last week.

Koh told CNBC the company plans to bring cutting-edge features to the lower-end models, with the first of the new devices slated for later in 2018. CNBC said the hope is that the new features at a cheaper price point will fuel sales. In the second quarter of this year, the mobile handset unit saw a 20 percent dip in year-over-year sales. Koh told CNBC the idea is to cater to more millennials with the lower-end phones. “So we are very much focusing on millennials who cannot afford the flagship. But how can I deliver meaningful innovation to our millennials? That’s the reason I’m trying to differentiate the mid-section,” Koh said. “You do not want to give Jeff Bezos a seven-year head start.”

Koh noted that earlier this year Samsung Electronics overhauled the mobile research and development unit to prepare for the move. A mid-priced new smartphone could be launched more than once a year, Koh told CNBC. In August the company announced the Samsung Galaxy Watch, a smartwatch aiming to take on Apple and the Apple Watch. In a press release, the South Korean electronics company said the watch comes equipped with a long-lasting battery, LTE connectivity and advanced wellness features and fitness tracking. The face has a rotating bezel and a variety of style options, including three new watch color finishes in silver, midnight black and rose gold.