Samsung and ASUS to cut tablet prices in Brazil: report

A report in Digitimes claims that Samsung and ASUS are about to start subsidizing the retail prices of its tablets in Brazil to help build market share in the country and to compete with lower-end devices.

According to Taiwanese supply chain sources, ASUS is cutting retail prices by 15 percent and could go as far as to cut them by 30 percent, while Samsung is offering subsidies to local sales agents worth 30 percent of tablet ticket prices.

There is little doubt of the growing demand for tablets in Brazil. IDC put sales of the devices in the country at 2.9 million in 2012, making it the world's tenth largest tablet market, and predicts that by the end of 2013, this number will have jumped to 5.4 million tablets.

But while demand for the devices is more than evident, companies such as Apple and Samsung face a number of hurdles in getting their tablets to Brazilian consumers at an affordable price. The country levies a high import tax on electronic products that originate from beyond its borders which meant that in 2011 when the iPad and the Samsung Galaxy Tab first hit the shelves they did so with $1000 price tags. Yet despite the tax, it is estimated that nearly 100,000 iPads were sold in the country in 2011.

Both Samsung and ASUS have already taken steps to address this levy by moving production and assembly to Brazil, and the report from Digitimes shows that both companies are now taking bigger steps to cement their brands in the region and to tap into this growing demand for mobile devices.