Samsung will reportedly officially launch the Galaxy Note 8 in India next Tuesday, September 12, with industry insiders claiming that the company’s latest and greatest Android flagship will be available for purchase in the South Asian country from September 25. According to some previous estimates, the phablet will be priced at between Rs. 70,000 and Rs. 75,000, i.e. set you back as much as $1,170. Despite the high price tag, Samsung is still hoping to incentivize consumers in India to purchase its new high-end offering, recent reports indicate, with sources claiming that the South Korean original equipment manufacturer (OEM) will bundle the device with a free Samsung Desktop Experience (Dex) station. Provided that the company is truly planning on introducing such a pre-order incentive, the offer would presumably be valid until the Galaxy Note 8 officially hits the market in India or while supplies last.
Other speculation points to a potential partnership between Samsung and a number of wireless carriers in the country, with the firm possibly opting to team up with the likes of Jio and Airtel to provide buyers of the Galaxy Note 8 with up to 100GB of additional mobile data. This type of extra cellular data offerings are a relatively common marketing practice in India and are traditionally delivered in the form of monthly packages, e.g. the aforementioned 100GB offer could be split into 20GB of extra data per month for five months.
Samsung is currently the leading phone vendor in India, albeit its market position was largely obtained thanks to its mid-range and entry-level offerings instead of premium devices like the Galaxy Note 8. Still, the company remains adamant to push its new phablet on a global level and if the aforementioned launch date proves to be accurate, it would indicate that the tech giant is now looking to place a larger focus on the high-end smartphone segment in the country; while all of Samsung’s Android flagships made their way to India in recent years, their local releases were often weeks or months behind the global ones. On the other hand, if the Galaxy Note 8 is to become commercially available in India on September 25, the handset’s local release would only be ten days behind the worldwide one.