Samsung opens world's largest mobile store in Bengaluru

Samsung Electronics opened its biggest mobile store in the world in Bengaluru on September 11 as it tries to take pole position in the world’s second-biggest smartphone market amid fierce competition from Chinese brands.

The South Korean tech giant’s roughly 33,000 square foot (3,000 square metre) store in Bengaluru will help it extend its lead in India over global rival Apple, which is yet to open its flagship store in the country.

India, which boasts of more than a billion wireless mobile connections, presents a lucrative opportunity for smartphone makers to expand beyond China and the United States, where growth has slowed.

Samsung opened the biggest smartphone manufacturing plant in the world outside New Delhi just two months ago.

“India is an extremely important market,” said Mohandeep Singh, senior vice-president, mobile business at Samsung India.

“The company plans to open more such stores in some of India’s top 10 cities. These stores will really help us further consolidate our share as we move forward,” Singh said.

The new store will feature Samsung mobile devices and also showcase its consumer electronics products and latest innovations. It will also house a service centre for phones.

Samsung, which runs 2,100 stores in India through franchise partners, is facing off against a host of Chinese brands led by Xiaomi. It has pulled pages from their playbooks to become savvier with online marketing — launching devices aimed at millennials, seeking to reinvent itself as a ‘younger brand’ and finding a new love for cricket with a sponsorship deal.

Samsung also wants to develop the centre as a meeting point for startups and venture capitalists, Singh added.