Galaxy S5 sold 40 percent fewer units than Samsung predicted: WSJ

Rogifan · Nov 24, 2014

http://www.theverge.com/2014/11/24/7273817/samsung-management-shakeup

A report in The Wall Street Journal claims that Samsung's Galaxy S5 flagship phone has performed below expectations. The S5 is said to have sold 12 million units in its first three months on sale; roughly 4 million fewer than its predecessor and overall around 40 percent fewer than projected. Sales were said to be down over 50 percent in China, with the US the only major market where sales actually increased. The US is, however, Samsung's biggest market.

Samsung reportedly overestimated how much stock would be needed, leading to an increased advertising spend to get rid of units that were "piling up in warehouses." Last month the company promised to "fundamentally reform" its smartphone portfolio after reporting plummeting profits and revenue.

It seems to me Samsung's biggest problem is they don't really have brand loyalty and nothing sticky, no real ecosystem to keep people coming back. It's easy for someone who owned a Galaxy to switch to LG, Moto, Xiaomi, etc. Samsung spent all this time going after Apple but I don't think Apple is necessarily the one disrupting them now.

jamezr · Nov 24, 2014

Rogifan said:
http://www.theverge.com/2014/11/24/7273817/samsung-management-shakeup

It seems to me Samsung's biggest problem is they don't really have brand loyalty and nothing sticky, no real ecosystem to keep people coming back. It's easy for someone who owned a Galaxy to switch to LG, Moto, Xiaomi, etc. Samsung spent all this time going after Apple but I don't think Apple is necessarily the one disrupting them now.

Surprise......another Rogifan thread with something negative about Samsung or Android! I am truly surprised! /s

I7guy · Nov 24, 2014

jamezr said:
Surprise......another Rogifan thread with something negative about Samsung or Android! I am truly surprised! /s

But if the article were about Apple, it would've been fair and unbiased!

dec. · Nov 24, 2014

jamezr said:
Surprise......another Rogifan thread with something negative about Samsung or Android! I am truly surprised! /s

Now it's your turn to surprise us - write something negative about Apple /s

Just joking

- at least the numbers seem to confirm what has been predicted for a while now, Samsung seem to have been taking large hits.

jamezr · Nov 24, 2014

I7guy said:
But if the article were about Apple, it would've been fair and unbiased!

Would it?

I7guy · Nov 24, 2014

jamezr said:
Would it?

Sure! This item actually belongs on the front page.

Rogifan · Nov 24, 2014

jamezr said:
Surprise......another Rogifan thread with something negative about Samsung or Android! I am truly surprised! /s

Hey if people can start threads here calling Apple users fanboys then I don't see what's wrong with this WSJ report. It's on the front page of Engadget and The Verge. Are they anti-Samsung and Android?

Fireblade · Nov 24, 2014

I7guy said:
But if the article were about Apple, it would've been fair and unbiased!

I really wonder, why a dedicated Android-, Samsung-... hater like you is lurking around in this section of MR, commenting on nearly every thread in here!?

balamw · Nov 24, 2014

Rogifan said:
Samsung spent all this time going after Apple but I don't think Apple is necessarily the one disrupting them now.

The implication in the WSJ article was that most of the erosion was from the cheap Chinese manufacturers for Asian markets.

This seems to be a larger problem for all Android ecosystem players. "Good enough" is always going to be the enemy of "best in class".

B

I7guy · Nov 24, 2014

balamw said:
The implication in the WSJ article was that most of the erosion was from the cheap Chinese manufacturers for Asian markets.

This seems to be a larger problem for all Android ecosystem players. "Good enough" is always going to be the enemy of "best in class".

B

That's the issue with seeking low-end. Think you hit the nail on the head.

xchampx13 · Nov 24, 2014

I think its just because there wasnt a huge upgrade that people woth s4s would really want to get

Rogifan · Nov 24, 2014

balamw said:
The implication in the WSJ article was that most of the erosion was from the cheap Chinese manufacturers for Asian markets.

This seems to be a larger problem for all Android ecosystem players. "Good enough" is always going to be the enemy of "best in class".

B

Samsung basically shares the same ecosystem (i.e. Google) as most of its competitors do. And in the case of China as you say there are "good enough" products that consumers are buying. What stickiness do any of the Android OEMs have to keep people coming back? That's probably why Samsung is experimenting with Tizen. But as Windows Phone shows it's hard for a new OS to gain traction. And it will be hard to get Android users heavily invested in Google services to switch to a brand new platform.

samcraig · Nov 24, 2014

Rogifan said:
Samsung basically shares the same ecosystem (i.e. Google) as most of its competitors do. And in the case of China as you say there are "good enough" products that consumers are buying. What stickiness do any of the Android OEMs have to keep people coming back? That's probably why Samsung is experimenting with Tizen. But as Windows Phone shows it's hard for a new OS to gain traction. And it will be hard to get Android users heavily invested in Google services to switch to a brand new platform.

Samsung has a suite of apps - but not sure it's sticky enough. They have the Note line which has it's own advantages over competitors - but we're talking the S5 here. I would say that, at least for me, one of the sticking points is that the camera software (at least for the S4 - haven't seen what else is out there in the last year) is great and so are the images I've taken with the S4. For many - a great camera and software could be a sticking point. Like anything - it really comes down to use case.

The android market also "suffers" from stickiness because at any given time, a particular phone could be discounted - edging it higher for a selection vs a strong "stickiness" of the one the customer currently has.

mercuryjones · Nov 24, 2014

jamezr said:
Surprise......another Rogifan thread with something negative about Samsung or Android! I am truly surprised! /s

When the next quarter sales for the iPhone comes out and it shows that it dipped after the holiday quarter, I'll see what you post about it. Then, we can discuss more.

Menneisyys2 · Nov 24, 2014

Rogifan said:
http://www.theverge.com/2014/11/24/7273817/samsung-management-shakeup

It seems to me Samsung's biggest problem is they don't really have brand loyalty and nothing sticky, no real ecosystem to keep people coming back. It's easy for someone who owned a Galaxy to switch to LG, Moto, Xiaomi, etc.

Or, possible GS5 puchasers have just waited for the much superior Note4?

Rogifan said:
Samsung spent all this time going after Apple but I don't think Apple is necessarily the one disrupting them now.

Yup, the tech literate (particularly people wanting the latest tech) won't purchase Apple's iPhone 6/6+. Alternatives, WRT phones, are so much better.

LIVEFRMNYC · Nov 24, 2014

Menneisyys2 said:
Or, possible GS5 puchasers have just waited for the much superior Note4?

Yup, and I was one of them. S3 > S4 > Note 4.

It just made sense, since bigger screens became the norm and less intimidating.

skratch77 · Nov 24, 2014

Did anyone notice it picked up sales in the usa? That is a win for Samsung because it's where it's major comp is.

The s5 can't compete in poor markets where they are flooded with inexpensive phones that run android

jamezr · Nov 24, 2014

mercuryjones said:
When the next quarter sales for the iPhone comes out and it shows that it dipped after the holiday quarter, I'll see what you post about it. Then, we can discuss more.

so why are you in this section again? You don't like Android.....you profess loyalty to all things Apple. So again why are in the Alternative section?

nviz22 · Nov 24, 2014

Samsung peaked with the S3 and the Note 3. The Note 4 is doing well, but I haven't seen the sale numbers for a prolonged period of time since it's just about a month or two old. The S3 was selling like crazy. The S4 and S5 are the same thing, laggy phones with overheating issues, resource hogging software, cheap build quality, battery life issues, and gimmicky features. Samsung is starting from scratch for the GS6. They need to get rid of Touchwiz's resource hogging. Stop pushing Samsung first party apps, nobody uses Chaton or S-Voice. Nobody wants Tizen. Focus on a minimalistic software that uses those extra features without turning a phone into another mess.

----------

Menneisyys2 said:
Or, possible GS5 puchasers have just waited for the much superior Note4?

Yup, the tech literate (particularly people wanting the latest tech) won't purchase Apple's iPhone 6/6+. Alternatives, WRT phones, are so much better.

I would disagree. There are tons of people who are tech literate and use the iPhone. My cousin is a software engineer and he uses an iPhone 6 64GB in Space Grey. I am tech literate and I had an iPhone 5S for about a week. I own an iPad as well, so I do understand Apple sells these gimmicks and people buy into them. I might buy the iPhone 6 since I have been through almost all the top androids and had problems with them. I went through like 10 Galaxy S5s, 1 LG G3, and 1 HTC One M8. I am considering the Note 4, but that has overheating issues from what I heard. The only Android phone that I consider the best right now is the Nexus 6. Only problem is that size is a lot bigger than what I thought besides the screen length.

mercuryjones · Nov 24, 2014

jamezr said:
so why are you in this section again? You don't like Android.....you profess loyalty to all things Apple. So again why are in the Alternative section?

So, I can't join in a discussion on a forum, based on what I like? What are you doing on MacRumors, if you are only in the Alternatives section?

FFR · Nov 24, 2014

Galaxy S5 sold 40 percent fewer units than Samsung predicted: WSJ

Menneisyys2 said:
Or, possible GS5 puchasers have just waited for the much superior Note4?

Yup, the tech literate (particularly people wanting the latest tech) won't purchase Apple's iPhone 6/6+. Alternatives, WRT phones, are so much better.

The note 4 has shipped only 4.5 million device compared to the note 3. The note 3 shipped 5 million in the first month and 10 million total. It would appear as though the note 4 is suffering from the same lack of demand that has plagued the Galaxy s5.

I personally returned my note 4.

I don't think it matters anymore, the iPhone is expected to sell over 70 million iPhones this quarter alone.

skratch77 · Nov 24, 2014

nviz22 said:
Samsung peaked with the S3 and the Note 3. The Note 4 is doing well, but I haven't seen the sale numbers for a prolonged period of time since it's just about a month or two old. The S3 was selling like crazy. The S4 and S5 are the same thing, laggy phones with overheating issues, resource hogging software, cheap build quality, battery life issues, and gimmicky features. Samsung is starting from scratch for the GS6. They need to get rid of Touchwiz's resource hogging. Stop pushing Samsung first party apps, nobody uses Chaton or S-Voice. Nobody wants Tizen. Focus on a minimalistic software that uses those extra features without turning a phone into another mess.

----------

I would disagree. There are tons of people who are tech literate and use the iPhone. My cousin is a software engineer and he uses an iPhone 6 64GB in Space Grey. I am tech literate and I had an iPhone 5S for about a week. I own an iPad as well, so I do understand Apple sells these gimmicks and people buy into them. I might buy the iPhone 6 since I have been through almost all the top androids and had problems with them. I went through like 10 Galaxy S5s, 1 LG G3, and 1 HTC One M8. I am considering the Note 4, but that has overheating issues from what I heard. The only Android phone that I consider the best right now is the Nexus 6. Only problem is that size is a lot bigger than what I thought besides the screen length.

I just want to point out I have a gs4 and gs5 and both were laggy but got significantly better with os updates.my gs5 on 4.4.4 runs amazing and has little to no lag what so ever and none of my phones ever over heated or had battery issues (6Plus hours of onscreen time)

Here is my gs5 staying on lte 4G and not even using any power saving tricks and I get almost 2 full days of power using the phone.

Edit I just looped sunspider and quadrant benches back to back twice and my cell is cold to the touch.I have no idea where you heard the gs5 has overheating issues and now re reading your post saying you had 10 gs5s just proves you are full of SH**

jamezr · Nov 24, 2014

mercuryjones said:
So, I can't join in a discussion on a forum, based on what I like? What are you doing on MacRumors, if you are only in the Alternatives section?

But this is the Alternative section of MacRumors. This is for non Apple devices. You know... The ones you don't like. So why are you here if you already know you don't like them? Are you trolling?

FFR · Nov 24, 2014

skratch77 said:
Did anyone notice it picked up sales in the usa? That is a win for Samsung because it's where it's major comp is.

The s5 can't compete in poor markets where they are flooded with inexpensive phones that run android

By how much did sales gain in the usa?
Because sales fell in China by 50%.

Will the recent release of the iPhone 6/6 plus have any impact on samsungs devices in the us market?
We will know more in January/February, but the current trend does not look promising.

Septembersrain · Nov 24, 2014

The S5 seriously had some issues. I'm not a Samsung hater either as I've got a Note 3 and intend to get a Note 5.

Galaxy S5 sold 40 percent fewer units than Samsung predicted: WSJ

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