To my knowledge, Samsung is not publicly traded in the U.S. exchange and is thus not beholden to SEC reporting requirements, i.e. a 10-K, 10-Q and have zero disclosure requirements to people in the U.S. Apple on the other hand is publicly traded and must file these reports.
I'm fairly confident that Samsung is only listed in the Korean market with shares sold in secondary markets. They probably report under IFRS and not U.S. GAAP but the reporting requirements are quite similar due to a purposeful convergence between the two standards.
I always hear this shipped and not sold argument like it is some sort of mantra. It really doesn't matter whether it is shipped or sold. Samsung likely couldn't tell you how many phones are in customer's hands because they don't sell the phone to the end user. Their customers are the carriers and retailers and for all intents and purposes, it is considered a sale for them when it is sold.
Whether the shipment is Free on Board Destination or Free on Board Shipping point, once Samsung either puts those phones in the hands of the common carrier or the carrier delivers the phones to the retailers, the phones are considered a sale.
Purchase returns and allowances are accounted for through the use of valuation accounts and does not go into figuring revenues. With Purchase Returns, there are a lot of data points that can be drawn from to determine whether the allowance is appropriate or not. Either way, purchase returns are a very small percentage, I would venture that 5% would be too high.
Regardless, Samsung cannot unilaterally channel stuff. It is one of the first things auditors look for when accounting for Sales. There was a big problem with this with manufacturers back in the day where they would ship goods at the end of a quarter to report a sale and to just have them send it back later.
Samsung's customers aren't little mom and pop shops. In the case of the U.S., they are duopolies like AT&T and Verizon, which I imagine manages their inventory level very well. You simply do not tie up your cash in inventory if you do not have to. That is a very, very basic tenant of business. You maintain enough inventory to be stocked enough so that you don't lose a sale, any more than that and you're messing up your cash flow.
Samsung's customers wouldn't stand for it. When auditing a company's financials, one of the things tested is cutoff. What you do is you look at shipped goods near the end of the quarter and see if they have a valid purchase order from the customer, a bill of lading, an authorization for shipment, and eventual payment.
Shipped, not sold, shipped not sold.
Please, I am very tired of hearing that.