Samsung is prepping to stop selling feature phones in India. The South Korean tech behemoth will deviate its focus on higher price tiers.

Samsung is beyond an iota of doubt, one of the world’s leading smartphone manufacturers. Further, the company dominates the smartphone segment in India.

However, Samsung could soon bid farewell to its low-value feature phone business in the country. Sources familiar with the development told Economic Times that Samsung’s partner Dixon will be manufacturing the last batch of the company’s feature phones by the end of 2022.

Samsung is one of two MNCs that contribute to the Indian government’s PLI (Production-Linked Incentive) scheme. According to the ET report, Samsung is allowed to get sops only on the production of phones worth more than Rs. 15,000 factory price.

So, the South Korean company will halt its low-value feature phone business in India. Instead, it will be focusing more on the mid-range, upper or premium mid-range, and premium smartphones.

In other words, Samsung will focus its energies on devices that cost Rs. 15,000 (about $193) or more. To recap, the feature phone shipments in India dropped by 39 percent year-on-year in Q1 2022.

This decline can be attributed to factors such as supply chain issues. Likewise, a major decrease in demand amid high retail inflation is one of the reasons for the feature phone shipments decline in India.

Notably, Samsung was at the forefront of the feature phone segment in the Indian market. However, it dropped to the number 3 spot with a market share of 12 percent.

With a 21 percent market share, Itel is currently leading the feature phone segment in the country. Lava takes the number 2 place with a 20 percent share.