Samsung Galaxy S20 may sell less than S10: sources

Samsung’s sales of its Galaxy S20 series are not selling too well on account of a global economic downturn triggered by the coronavirus, also known as COVID-19, along with reduced subsidies for telecom companies.

Industry sources said on Mar. 17 that the latest in Samsung’s flagship smartphones are expected to have sold less than its predecessor Galaxy S10 from March this year, citing the piling inventory. “Samsung has also radically cut its demand for the S20 parts,” said another market watcher.

Samsung usually 'adjusts its strategy after monitoring sales for the first three months since the launch. In 2019, the Galaxy S10 sold pretty well during the first initial months, but sales tapered from Q2.

Among its S20 lineup, Samsung had expected its S20+ model to sell the most, but this estimation was also off the mark, as the S20 Ultra received the most pre-orders. “Pre-orders for the S20 Ultra rose to over 50% of the total volume,” said another market watcher.

After seeing the Ultra gaining popularity, Samsung has ordered more camera modules for the smartphone, said one source close to the matter. The S20 Ultra features a 108 million pixel camera and a 100X digital zoom.

In 2019, Samsung had forecast its S10 to sell the most, but the S10+ ended up being the best-seller.

In addition to the COVID-19 crisis, Samsung will also have to face the new smartphones to be launched by its rivals such as Huawei in the coming months.

The Galaxy S20 was launched in 20 countries on Mar. 6, including Korea. It is to be unveiled in a total of 130 countries by the end of this month.

Sales of the Galaxy series has been on the downturn in recent years. After the Galaxy S7 sold over 40 million handsets in 2016, the S8 sold 38 million in 2017, while the S9 sold 32 million in 2018 and the S10 sold 36 million in 2019.

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