The Samsung Galaxy S5 was launched globally on the 11th of April and that included India as well. We’ve got some good news for aspiring buyers of the smartphone in the region as local retailer Flipkart has slashed the pricing of the smartphone down to Rs.46,881 (approx. $780) from Rs. 51,990 (approx. $860). But only the white variant of the smartphone is seeing the price reduction at the moment while the black model still sells for the original price.

It is being said that this price reduction is to combat the threat imposed by the imminent launch of the HTC One (M8) which has already won widespread acclaim for being one of the best looking Android devices in the market today. HTC One announced earlier today that the all-new HTC One (M8) will go on sale for Rs. 49,990 (approx. $825).

In global markets, both the HTC One (M8) and the Samsung Galaxy S5 are priced similarly, so it ultimately comes down to buyer preference. It will be very interesting to see how the Indian market responds to the launch of the HTC flagship early next month.

It is important to note that the Galaxy S5 in most Asian markets comes with the Exynos 5 octa-core chip and not Snapdragon 801. This could nudge things in favor of HTC, which is launching the Snapdragon 801 model globally.

HTC will be launching its flagship in India on May 7 according to a press release from earlier today. A bit of a mix-up led us into believing that there’s going to be a Google Play Edition variant of the smartphone launching in the region, but HTC has now clarified that it will only launch the standard HTC One (M8).