Rush for premium appliances fires up festival shopping despite downturn

Industry leaders are hoping that the extraordinary festival demand for premium products would translate into a sharp rebound that stays on

Samsung’s senior vice-president Mohandeep Singh is familiar with festive rush and sleepless nights that come with it. But the demand for premium smart phones he’s witnessing this year is rather unusual. In spite of an overall economic downturn, the company’s premium handset sales have been robust in October.

With a surge in the share of premium portfolio, Samsung is not only expecting to achieve a 40 per cent growth in sales this season, its overall average selling price or ASP is now growing faster than ever, according to Singh. “The mass and mid-segments are also growing reasonably well, while our premium