Samsung may have problems meeting the demand for its new Galaxy S6 lineup.
The South Korean electronics giant said on Wednesday that demand for its Galaxy S6 lineup is “much higher” than planned for. The new Galaxy S6 and the Galaxy S6 Edge went on sale on Friday. Samsung hasn’t released sales figures for the opening weekend, but the two phones have already managed around 20 million preorders over the past few weeks, according to the Korea Times.
Impressive responses to the Galaxy lineup
“The two new phones are drawing impressive responses,” a source informed the Korea Times. “Samsung aims to ship 10 million S6s and S6 Edges in 26 days after the devices’ global launch. That target is achievable”.
If the claim is true, it means the new models are selling at a faster rate than previous Galaxy models. What’s the reason for the short supply though? The company’s mobile chief JK Shin admitted the shortage in supply for the Galaxy S6 edge, and last week told reporters that the company won’t be able to meet demand for that model due to the phone’s screen, which curves around the edges and are more difficult to manufacture.
In the long term however, Samsung aims to meet global demand. “Although there may be some difficulties for the short term, we will do our utmost to secure enough supply for our global consumers”, Samsung said.
Samsung has a lot riding on the Galaxy S6
The South Korean giant has seen its recent fortunes take a downtime as it has faced increased competition in the low-end of the market for companies such as Xiaomi and Huawei, and on the high end from Apple. The new, larger iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 plus helped Apple beat Samsung last financial quarter, according to Gartner.
But with the Galaxy S6 lineup, Samsung appears to have addressed complaints about the devices, and overcome the lukewarm reception for the outgoing Galaxy S5. It has moved the device from a plastic-bodied phone to a more premium feeling metal chassis, and also removed a lot of the bloatware that is typically added by vendors on top of the Android 5.0 Lollipop operating system.
However, last week Samsung said it expects earnings to fall again for the just-finished quarter of 2015, as it navigates the rough seas of the smartphone market. Operating profit for January – March is expected to be around $5.4 billion, down 30% from the year-ago period, and overall sales should be about 47 tra
Last week, Samsung said it expects its earnings to fall once again for the just-completed first quarter of 2015 as it negotiates the rough currents of the smartphone market. It estimates that its operating profit for the January-March period will be 5.9 trillion won ($5.4 billion), down 30 percent from the year-ago period, and that sales likely will come in at about 47 trillion won ($43 billion), a decrease of around 12% year over year.
SOURCE: Reuters
Larry Banks is a keen follower of technology and finance. He has worked for a variety of online publications, writing about a diverse range of topics including mobile networks, patents, and Internet video delivery technologies.