Amazon hosts 'war of discounts' between Apple and Samsung

The battleground for Apple and Samsung is now e-commerce website Amazon India. Both companies are striving to sell their smartphones at a discounted price exclusively on the online portal after scrapping them off from offline stores. A report by Times of India says that Apple has slashed prices for the iPhone 5C by 30 percent. The 5C is Apple’s slowest selling devices and will now be sold exclusively on Amazon. On the other hand, Korean brand Samsung offers a 23 percent discount on its yesteryear flagship device, Galaxy S4. This device too is available exclusively on Amazon. The report claims that both the companies have sold almost 1 lakh units together on Amazon. This sale could be the highest ever for these models through one point of sale. Tarun Pathak, a senior analyst at Counterpoint Research has said that, “It’s a strategic move by Apple and Samsung to focus on two of the fastest-growing smartphone segments where their presence has been limited.” He also stated that, “These two brands have sold substantial number of the handsets which will boost their market share too. More such online-only deals are expected this year and we expect e-commerce contribution to overall smartphone sales in India to touch 30 percent this year from 15 percent in 2014.” Initially, Samsung did not have a appreciable presence under the 20K smartphone segment but it strengthened its market space when the **Samsung Galaxy S4** received a massive price cut and became available online for Rs 17,999 on Amazon. Apple too decided to reduce prices for the iPhone 5C to Rs 22,990 when it decided to discontinue their super-popular  iPhone 4 from the market. An Amazon India spokesperson confirmed to Times of India that sales for both Apple and Samsung devices had been ’exceptionally good’. Samsung has chosen Amazon as its sales channel for other products as well. Yesterday, Samsung launched the  **Galaxy S6, S6 Edge in India** starting at Rs 49,900.