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Samsung Galaxy S9 sales reportedly at record low in Korea

Recent data suggests that the Galaxy S9 and S9 Plus have sold almost 300,000 units less than the S8 devices did across the same timeframe.
By
May 1, 2018
The Samsung Galaxy S9 Plus.
TL;DR
  • New data has suggested that sales of Samsung Galaxy S9 and S9 Plus devices in Korea are at a record low.
  • In March and April, S9 series devices reportedly sold 707,000 units. This compares to around 1 million S8 series devices that were sold during the same time period last year.
  • Analysts suggested that the poor sales may be due to the phone’s high price and lack of big upgrades to key features.

Sales of Samsung Galaxy S9 and Galaxy S9 Plus devices in Korea are reportedly at a record low for Galaxy S series devices. Data acquired by Etnews and reported by The Investor suggests the devices have sold 707,000 units in the two months since their release. This compares to the 1 million units the Galaxy S8 series reportedly sold in Korea in the same period last year.

While March saw sales of around 476,000 units, the data indicates that in April there was a fairly large drop off to only 231,000 units. Industry watchers quoted in the article suggested that the phone’s high price and lack of big upgrades to key features could be behind the poor sales.

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These figures haven’t come from Samsung and are only based on estimates from Korea, so they don’t give us a completely accurate picture of the situation. Another recent report suggested that global sales of the Samsung Galaxy S9 and S9 Plus in their first four weeks were actually pretty similar to the number of  Galaxy S8 and S8 Plus devices sold after its launch last year. The devices also appear to be doing well in India where Samsung has reportedly retaken its spot at the top of the country’s premium phone market. There, Samsung’s devices reportedly captured half of the entire premium segment in the first quarter of 2018.

Nonetheless, Samsung does anticipate demand for its flagship devices to drop in the coming months. In its first-quarter report, it said that it expects its mobile business’ profitability to decrease due to weak demand for flagship models and rising competition in the sector.

There is something that may cheer up Samsung fans, though: The Investor said the Galaxy S9 series has almost double the number of sales in Korea as the iPhone X has since its release there (months earlier) with 475,000 units — also said to be a record low for the iPhone series.

Next up: Samsung Galaxy S9 and Galaxy S9 Plus problems and how to fix them