Samsung India is reported to have set up an internal team to look for alternative distribution channels for its mobile phones as the company seeks to double its market share by the end of this year.

Sunil Dutt, country head of Samsung Telecommunications told the Business Standard newspaper that: "We are looking at tie-ups in the online space. We have witnessed an increasing number of consumers purchasing handsets and accessories online. We therefore plan to tie-up with multiple online partners to sell handsets online through their network. We should be able to finalise around four online partners within a week."

"We are also looking at tapping the small and medium companies in India for tailor-made telecommunications solutions. A lot of SMEs and corporates like to purchase phones in bulk and also look for special features and prices. We are looking to cater to the corporate tailor-made product segment too in order to push sales," Dutt said.

The company is also looking at developing partnerships with regional organisations to push sales into the rural areas.

Samsung recently overtook Motorola in India's handset market, according to figures from a local market research firm. The latest ORG figures reports that Samsung's market share rose from 5.7% in January to 7% in March of this year - over taking Motorola which dropped from 6.7% to 5.9%.

Samsung says that it is aiming to take the second place from Sony Ericsson within the next few months.

“We have gained substantially and hope to continue to do so with our new range of models and become the second largest player in the market by the end of next quarter. We have a manufacturing capacity of seven million units, which can be ramped up. We can also leverage the group’s existing facility in Chennai if required,” said Sunil Dutt.

The company also plans to launch a range of new handsets targeting the Indian market - and has customised the software for the local market - adding in facilities such as support for the Hindi/English hybrid language, Hinglish in the text messaging applications. The company is currently recruiting engineers to boost its local R&D facility at its Noida laboratory from 200 to 300 staff.

Sunil Dutt has previously said that it aims to open 300 new retail outlets in India by the end of this year and wants to open an unspecified number of flagship outlets in the main cities.

Source: Business Standard