Apple verdict will not affect Samsung's India business: Analysts

The recent US court verdict that penalizes Samsung for alleged infringement of some of Apple's patents where the Korean major is asked to pay over $1 bn to the iPhone maker as compensation does not see much impact in its India sales, at least in the recent term, believe experts.

'The verdict no doubt has dented the brand image of Samsung but it would not have much impact in India as here most of the consumers are not brand conscious,' says Girish Trivedi, founder and director at Monk Consulting. He is also of the opinion that the fight between Apple and Samsung should be seen as the battle between two platforms rather than two brands.

On last Friday a US court said that Samsung has infringed upon 6 out of 7 patents of Apple for its smartphones. With this win the Cupertino-based smartphone maker is pressing for complete ban of sales of at least 8 devices of Samsung in the US market.

It is evident that this patent law suit loss to Apple would see dip in sales of Samsung products in many major markets, as customers tend to become apprehensive about the future of those products. However, the Korean firm's India unit maintains it would not affect its business in the world's fastest growing telecom market.

'The ruling does not impact Samsung Smartphone and tablet sales in India,' says Ranjit Yadav, country head, Samsung Mobile and IT, India.

'We will continue to strengthen our leadership in these segments in India based on our innovative new launches giving consumers' more choice,' added Yadav.

Rahul Gupta, a senior telecom consultant has a different perspective on the whole issue. He too maintains that the recent verdict would not affect Samsung's India business. 'In India the business is emotion driven. People do not go by brands,' he says. 'Consumers here are hardly concerned about patents and IPR,' he adds. He reasons that consumers go by price and they love if they get a better product at 'that price'.

This story was first published on Voice&Data magazine website