By Matthew Henry
SYDNEY: Samsung claims to have increased the gap between itself and its nearest rival in the mp3 market, cementing its position as the number two brand behind Apple.
Referring to October GfK figures, Samsung Electronics Australia AV marketing manager, Rod Rodrigues, said, the company had more than doubled their market share in mp3 players over year to October and were now the number two brand in MP3 players in Australia.
“Through 2008 we expect further considerable strengthening of share in this category given the latest innovative range of Samsung mp3 players to hit the market,” he said.
Samsung recently introduced a number of new products into the category, including the T10, S5 and P2 models, with up to 8GB flash memory and features not found in similar offerings from Apple.
“The types of innovations that have helped grow and will continue to grow our share of the mp3 market are evident across our new range. Such innovations as Bluetooth, video playback, widescreen, touch screen, slide out speakers for sharing music between friends and FM radio,” said Rodrigues.
“We are offering feature-rich players at a competitive price point, so have become the brand of choice for mp3 for those that demand more from a portable music player.”
After missing its own deadline to unseat Apple as the market leader – the company boldly predicted this would occur before 2007 – Samsung now has its sights firmly set on 2008 as a year of further market share growth.
The company has expanded and reorganised its sales team in the AV division to now have a dedicated product manager for mp3 – former marketing executive, Lisa Findlay.
“In August of this year we strengthened our commitment to the market with the introduction of a dedicated sales team that operates across mp3 players, camcorders and digital still cameras,” said Rodrigues.
“The sales team consists of four sales staff dedicated to these categories and covers the eastern seaboard. In addition to this sales team there is also now a dedicated product manager for mp3, Lisa Findlay. It is a big investment in people but is already reflected in our current position as number two brand in the mp3 player market.”
Working closely with Samsung’s digital AV product manager, Sagar Dave, Findlay will be responsible for providing specialist product and market knowledge to Samsung’s sales teams with the intention of increasing sales and market share for the mp3 category. She will also be responsible for identifying new business opportunities and preparing detailed product marketing plans.