Samsung electronics to set up third manufacturing plant in India

New Delhi: "While we are in talks with the state governments, nothing has been decided," Samsung said in a statement. It didn't say how much it might invest, nor what products any new plant might make.

The Economic Times, an Indian business newspaper, reported earlier on Friday that Samsung was considering building a new plant to make smartphones and other electronic goods. The paper, citing an unnamed source, said Samsung may invest between $500 million and $1 billion in the new plant.

For the first time country's smart phone market fell by 4 percent in the October-December period last year as compared with the previous quarter, even as handset maker Samsung retains its top position as leading vendor with 22 percent share, research firm IDC said.

According to IDC's latest quarterly report, total shipments of smart phones during the fourth quarter were about 22.5 million.

The Korean handset maker Samsung, which had a 24 percent share of the India smart phone market in July-September 2014 quarter, has been facing intense competition in India from domestic rivals like Micromax and Lava as well as global brands like Xiaomi and Motorola.

In market share, Samsung is followed by Micromax at 18 percent, Intex (eight percent), Lava (seven percent) and Xiaomi (four percent).

IDC said the Samsung has been dethroned as top tablet vendor in the Indian market by domestic firm iBall. Mumbai-based iBall overtook Samsung in the Indian tablet market with 15.6 percent share in the October-December quarter, which saw total shipments of 0.96 million units.