MUMBAI: Samsung Electronics is to provide finance to potential smartphone buyers, a company executive said on Thursday, in a bid to boost smartphone sales in India where it faces fierce competition from rivals such as China's Xiaomi .
Unlike Western markets, where smartphones are often tied to telecom company contracts, the bulk of phones in India are sold by retailers, with customers choosing wireless carriers and mobile plans on their own. Other smartphone players offer similar schemes through tie-ups with finance firms, but for Samsung having its own loan product will likely help to drive sales.Amazon.com's India business and home-grown rival Flipkart offer instalment plans on debit and credit cards, but in India millions still do not have access to plastic money.