Sales of Galaxy S20 underwhelm amid pandemic

Sales of Samsung Electronics’ latest flagship series Galaxy S20 are hovering below those of its predecessor as the global new coronavirus pandemic has led to a slump in demand for consumer products, industry sources say.

South Korean sales of the Galaxy S20 series, which comes in three models — the S20, S20 Plus and S20 Ultra — are estimated to have accounted for only 60 percent of the sales of the Galaxy S10 series so far, according to sources from local mobile carriers.

The South Korean tech giant, which has not been providing official numbers, estimated the sales were roughly 80 percent of the Galaxy S10 5G series.

The decrease apparently came as consumer sentiment was seriously impacted by the Covid-19 pandemic, which led to economic jitters around the globe.

Reflecting the weaker-than-expected performance, Samsung is estimated to have posted an operating profit of around 2.5 trillion won (US$2 billion) or below for the first quarter from the IT & mobile communications division, which oversees the smartphone business.

The company will report its finalized earnings later this month.

Samsung’s operating profit from the sector reached 2.9 trillion won in the third quarter of 2019, which slipped to 2.5 trillion won a quarter later

Industry tracker Strategy Analytics earlier said global shipments of smartphones are estimated to reach 1 billion units, revising down its previous estimate of 1.3 billion units.