Samsung’s Galaxy A series showing robust sales

Samsung Electronics’ strategic Galaxy A series showed robust sales, with the Galaxy A10 and A50 selling more than 50 million handsets altogether, according to industry sources on Jan. 1.

The latest Galaxy A series was launched in March, and the phones helped keep Samsung at first place in the global smartphone market.

According to UK-based market research firm Informa Tech, a total of 13.4 million of the Galaxy A10 handsets are estimated to have been sold in the first half of 2019, while the Galaxy A50 sold around 12 million and the Galaxy A30 sold 9.2 million.

Hong Kong-based CounterPoint said in the third quarter of 2019, 9.88 million of the Galaxy A10 were sold, 7.22 million of Galaxy A50 and 5.32 million of Galaxy A20 phones.

Put together, the Galaxy A10 sold an accumulated 23.28 million handsets as of Q3 in 2019, and 19.22 million of the Galaxy A50. Together, 42.5 million handsets were sold, indicating that as of the year’s end, around 50 million of the two A series smartphones were sold to account for 17% of Samsung’s annual smartphone shipment of 300 million.

The Galaxy S and the Note series each sell a much smaller volume of around 35 million and 10 million, respectively.

CounterPoint said behind the A series’ success was Samsung’s decision to strengthen the specs and design of its mid-tier smartphones, coupled with Washington’s sanctions against China’s Huawei Technologies.

The Galaxy A10 was strategically launched to tarket mostly Chinese and Southeast Asian markets. It was followed by the GalaxyA10e, which was sold in the US in September. The Galaxy A10s manufactured by China’s WingTech followed, and then the A50 – which has better specs than the Galaxy S9.

Mid-tier smartphones priced at between US$150-399 have increasingly been accounting for bigger market shares, while more expensive phones with retail prices of US$400 and above are showing slower sales.

The Galaxy A series to be launched this year will sport even more sophisticated specs. The A51 and the A71, along with the A01 have already been unveiled. The Galaxy A31 and the A41 will be launched in the first quarter of this year at the earliest.

Meanwhile, Apple’s iPhoneXR topped the list in terms shipment in the third quarter to take the lead for four consecutive quarters.

The Elec is South Korea’s No.1 tech news platform.