Looks like Samsung is feeling the heat from newly launched Android One smartphones. The Korean manufacturer on Wednesday rolled-out a price-cut for its Galaxy Core 2 smartphone in the Indian market. The company will now be selling the Core 2 at INR 7,990, down from the launch price of INR 11,990, revealed Mumbai-based retailer Mahesh Telecom. The price-cut has already started appearing at the e-retailers like Flipkart as well as Samsung’s own e-store.
This is a huge reduction for a smartphone that has gone on the sale in country just two months ago. With Google’s marketing muscle behind Android One smartphones in India, Samsung really has a reason to fear. For long the company has operated without much competition in the budget segment but that has changed this year. The entry of the likes of Moto E, Asus Zenfone 4 and Xiaomi Redmi 1S have changed the dynamics but these weren’t a real threat to Samsung, as all these phones were online-exclusive and depended mostly on word-of-mouth publicity except Moto E, which is advertised a bit but nowhere near the level of Samsung smartphones. Android One smartphones, however, will also be available in physical stores beginning next month. Broader availability, aggressive marketing, and a great pricing as well as specifications are more than enough to shake Samsung, resulting in today’s decision.
To remind you, Samsung Galaxy Core 2 is an entry-level smartphone and comes with 4.5-inch WVGA display, 1.2GHz quad-core processor, 768MB of RAM, 4GB of internal storage and microSD card slot. The phone also comes with 5MP rear camera, VGA front camera, 2000 mAh battery and Android 4.4.
While the reduced pricing of the Core 2 might not be matching the Android One price-tag, thanks to the Samsung branding and distribution, the Core 2 now has a real chance to take the Google-backed initiative.
6 replies on “Samsung drops Galaxy Core 2 price to take on Android One smartphones”
HAHA Samsung feeling the heat 😛 this sudden move shows how desperate Samsung is to save its marketing share but its already a lost battle:
1) processor is Spreadtrum SC7735S Shark previously used in HTC 700 DS which was an epic failure. GSMArena absolutely panned the mobile. Can barely match mediatek MT6589. MT6582 > MT6589.
2) 768MB ram. With Touchwiz even 1GB is not sufficient.
3) Video recording is 480p. Zenfone 4 does 1080p at 7k.
4) Core, S Duos, S Duos 2 went off the market waiting for update. Grand Neo may become the next member of the same trail.
5) No update but not even a custom rom.
The biggest problem for Samsung is they use low tier no name SOC from Broadcom, Spreadtrum, Marvell to save cost. They don’t bother making new version of Android compatible with their SOC which acts as a bonus for Samsung. Instead of updating, they’ll go for the next gen of SOC from same manufacturer and the process repeats.
With Touchwiz even 1GB is not sufficient…
sadly its true.. this is from S3 user….only thing wrong in S3..TouchWiz its like touchshit
thats the reason there are lot of third party launchers in google play.
Even this is NOT enough Samsung… You will realize this later only…
hehehe poor Samsung, feeling the heat now. Ultimately the customer is going to benefit
End of Samsung has come. Xiaomi and now Android one will take on budget segment. Top order will be taken care of by apple iPhone thanks to their bigger design now. I really curse Samsung for offering a shitty phone like galaxy s advance at 19k. Now I’m using mi3.