Despite the economic conditions, Romanians prefer expensive, trendy mobile phones, which have multimedia functions, according to officials of Hat Romania, the only distributor of Samsung phones on the Romanian market.
"The developing market is bringing out the extremes - there are very many people actually buying their very first mobile phone and choosing low-end models, but there is also very high demand for expensive terminals," Doru Oraselu, Hat Romania marketing manager told Ziarul Financiar.
Hat, which last February became sole distributor of the Samsung cell phones in Romania, practically started from zero market share. "We are now among the top two or three distributors of mobile phones on our segment: middle and high-end," Doru Oraselu stated.
The phones are mainly popular among the early users, who are now replacing their old cellular phones. "The replacement rate has become more apparent lately, but the mobile phone is still among the durable goods in Romania," the Hat official maintained.
Some two million mobile phones will be sold on the local market this year, with their value close to 200 million dollars, according to Hat surveys. "The average price of a phone is 100-120 US dollars," Doru Oraselu stated.
Hat Romania estimates sales to double this year as compared to 2003. The company last year paid one million dollars to become the sole distributor of the South Korean mobile phone manufacturer, whereas market estimates show the sales of Samsung phones in Romania to be worth 20 million dollars annually, according to analysts quoted by the Jerusalem Post daily. Hat Romania aims to get 8% in market share.
The sales surge registered by Hat is based both on the broader portfolio of mobile phones and on the development of the partner networks.
dan.dragomir@zf.ro
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