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Samsung has reportedly lowered its shipment expectations for the Galaxy S21 series. According to a new report coming from South Korea, the company is estimating that it will ship a total of 26 million Galaxy S21 units by the end of this year.
This is seemingly an adjustment Samsung is making based on the Galaxy S20 series’ sales figure last year. The company had initially estimated 35 million shipments for the flagship series in 2020. However, it ended up shipping only 26 million units of the Galaxy S20 phones throughout the year.
Although the last year was anything but normal, Samsung doesn’t seem to be expecting an overwhelming change in the market situation this year either. The company perhaps wants to take some time and see how the market responds to its newest flagship offerings.
Samsung takes a conservative approach with Galaxy S21 shipments
All three Galaxy S21 phones – the vanilla S21, S21+, and S21 Ultra – look great both on paper as well as on hands. Early reviews are promising as well. However, the phones are yet to reach consumers’ hands. And at the end of the day, consumer demand is all that really matters for a phone’s success. So Samsung is taking a conservative approach and until a more accurate prediction can be made, it has lowered the sales expectations for its newest flagships.
According to the report, the company is taking this conservative approach because of the decline in its market share in the premium segment in recent years. The decrease in offline sales because of the still-ongoing COVID-19 pandemic has also influenced this decision. Samsung is perhaps doing so to avoid overproduction early on.
A report back in November last year said that the Korean company is planning to follow the market closely and increase the production of the Galaxy S21 series as and when needed. This will ensure that it doesn’t have a stockpile of phones that aren’t seeing much demand in the market.
Samsung reportedly expects the smallest Galaxy S21 to be the most popular phone in the series. It is expecting to ship 10 million units of the phone this year. Shipment estimates for the Galaxy S21+ and Galaxy S21 Ultra models are set at 8 million units each. To recall, the Galaxy S20 Ultra was the most popular model last year.
Samsung has just started shipping the pre-order units of the Galaxy s21 phones. General sales of the phones begin on January 29th. The first month since the market release will be crucial in determining the subsequent demand for the Galaxy S21 series. We’ll now have to wait and see whether Samsung manages to exceed its initial sales estimates.