A report out of South Korea had claimed last month that initial sales of Samsung’s Galaxy S20 series phones were significantly lower than the company had expected. Now, a new report by Seoul Economic Daily suggests the Galaxy S20 trio has only sold roughly 60% as much as the Galaxy S10 series in the same amount of time on the market last year.
While exact sales numbers are not yet available, Samsung is likely to reveal official numbers by the end of this quarter. The information certainly isn’t shocking, as the coronavirus pandemic has hit the smartphone industry very hard. As per data from Strategy Analytics, global smartphone monthly shipments dropped by 38% YoY in February.
The only silver lining for Samsung right now is that the Galaxy S20 Ultra is proving to be more popular than the Galaxy S20 and S20+ among consumers. As per a recent report from The Elec, the S20 Ultra made up 50% of all S20 series pre-orders. Thanks to the high demand for the most expensive Galaxy S flagship, Samsung has reportedly ordered more 108MP camera sensors.
Samsung had sold around 36 million units of Galaxy S10 series phones last year. With sales off to a disappointing start, it now looks highly unlikely that the company will be able to achieve its 32 million sales target for the Galaxy S20 series. In addition to the coronavirus pandemic, the high pricing of the Galaxy S20 series phones and reduced subsidies from carriers have also impacted sales.
