Israel-based HAT International has won the exclusive rights to market and sell Samsung cellular products in Romania. The contract is valid for one year, with an option for a second year, the Jerusalem Post reports.
This will be the first time that Samsung, the world's third-largest cellular phone manufacturer, will be selling its products in Romania.
According to the Jerusalem Post, the rights will be worth 20 million dollars annually. This is a bold, if not unreachable goal, considering the overall mobile phone market in Romania amounts to $80 million a year, and Samsung has managed to gain only a little less than 5% of the market in Europe, telecom analysts say.
The Israeli company paid $1 million for the rights to sell the mobiles and Samsung has agreed to spend some $2.5 million on advertising.
HAT CEO Isaac Voldman says the company hopes eventually to garner eight percent of the total Romanian cellular market. HAT will market the products via its daughter company, HAT Romania, established four years ago. HAT Romania used to be a dealer of Mitsubishi mobile phones until recently, when the Japanese maker stopped manufacturing handsets.
GlobalNET, one of the main mobile phone dealers in Romania, announced it would not work with the Israeli firm.
"First, it is impossible to understand why the Samsung office in Romania, run by a Romanian manager, chose to grant exclusive dealership rights to an Israeli company," says Liviu Nistoran, GlobalNET CEO. Second, Samsung's Romanian office does not have a functional post-sale service system, which should cover technical support and repairs for the handsets sold, Nistoran states. Under the circumstances, GlobalNET said it would not buy from the Israeli company because it did not want to jeopardise its relation with the customers, because of the post-sale service not in line with its standards.
On the other hand, another major dealer, Germanos, feels Samsung's launch through HAT is a positive thing that will protect the Samsung brand in Romania and put an end to illegal imports.
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