Samsung had first announced the Note 8 in August at an event in New York | Photo: FacebookNew Delhi: Samsung on Tuesday unveiled its latest flagship 'Galaxy Note 8' in India to consolidate its dominant position in the premium smartphone market, hours ahead of global rival Apple unveiling the latest iPhone.
Priced at Rs 67,900, the Note 8 will be available for pre-booking from Tuesday in India across select retail stores as well as online through Samsung Shop and Amazon.in. It will start shipping to Indian customers from September 21.
"The Galaxy S8 has helped catapult our share in the premium segment to 68 per cent in value terms (as per GfK data). We believe the Note 8 will help us further grow and consolidate this position," Samsung India senior vice president (Mobile Business) Asim Warsi told PTI.
He added that Samsung India has already received 250,000 'interests' for the Note 8 through social media and that he is confident of a phenomenal response to the flagship device.
Apple is slated to introduce a new set of smartphones lateron Tuesday in the US, marking the 10-year anniversary of the iconic smartphone.
Apple has a small share of the overall smartphone base in India but is a strong player in the premium category (Rs 30,000 and above). Over the past few quarters, it has seen strong growth in the Indian market and it is undertaking major steps to further grow its business here.
In India, Samsung led the smartphone segment with 24 per cent share in April-June 2017 quarter. Globally, it had 23.3 per cent share in the said quarter, ahead of US-based Apple that had 12 per cent share.
Samsung had first announced the Note 8 in August at an event in New York. According to reports, the global pre-orders for the Note 8 are far higher than its predecessor Note 7.
Samsung's Note 7 had a short run and the company was forced to recall the devices from the market after instances of the battery catching fire.
Warsi said the company conducts a "stringent eight-point battery check" to ensure safety of its customers.
While the launch of Note 7 was announced in India, the devices did not hit the market.
"India loves the Galaxy Note. We had undertaken a study and found that nearly 9 out of 10 saying they are satisfied with their device and two-thirds said they would consider buying the new Note device," Warsi said.
The Note 8 will see Samsung India introducing 'Bixby' - its voice-powered digital assistant - in India in the next few weeks.
"Bixby will be available on Galaxy Note 8 and Galaxy S8 and S8+ devices in India. It has been enhanced to recognise the Indian English accent," Warsi said.
In terms of specifications, the Note 8 features a 6.3- inch screen with 'Infinity Display'. It has a 6GB RAM, 64GB internal storage (expandable up to 256GB) and 3300 mAh battery.
The device has a dual-rear camera (12 MP and 12 MP set up) and 8MP front camera. It comes with the S-Pen, a standard feature of the Note series.
Note 8's 'Screen Off memo' allows users to take up to 100-pages of notes, without even unlocking the phone. Samsung will also offer a one-year year screen replacement warranty on the device along with a free convertible wireless charger.
Samsung has also introduced 'Samsung Upgrade' program to allow existing Galaxy users to find out the exchange value for their device using the 'My Galaxy' app on their phones and trade the device at a retail store near them.
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