Overall global smartphone shipments fell by 13% in Q1 2020 owing to the coronavirus pandemic and the resulting lockdowns to curtail the spread of the virus. It is no surprise that the slump in sales has hit all manufacturers, as the global health crisis has given rise to economic hardships. While Samsung still leads the market with a 21.9% market share, the firm’s latest flagships, the Galaxy S20 series, seem to be heavily underperforming in comparison to its predecessors in the U.S.
PCMag reports that S20 sales trends suggest that the flagship smartphone is selling almost half in numbers as compared to previous flagship offerings, the Galaxy S10, and the S9. The S20 series managed to peak at around 200,000 units a week, whereas the S10 and S9 peaked at around 500,000 and 400,000 units, respectively. The South Korean giant reportedly had internal discussions with security analysts in late March owing to the “disappointing sales” of the device family.
Interestingly, PCMag’s report also adds that one in five phones sold in the U.S. are 5G capable handsets, resulting in the 5G market share reaching 20% of total devices. This could likely be due to the S20 sales, and the fact that the device supports multiple 5G bands offered by major U.S. carriers. However, 4G capable device sales are down drastically.
Samsung’s Galaxy S20 line of devices, especially the exorbitantly priced S20 Ultra, received a tepid response despite the company boasting the phones’ photography prowess. The firm had to serve multiple updates and fixes for various camera performance hiccups. These issues, along with the challenges brought by the pandemic, have adversely affected sales.
It will be interesting to see how the trends shift as the U.S. and other countries slowly ease stay at home orders and what steps Samsung takes to improve sales.