Pre-bookings of Samsung Electronics’ upcoming smartphones, the Samsung Galaxy S9 and S9 Plus, are not meeting expectations. “ValueWalk,” a news website which evaluates the value of corporate assets, said on May 8th, that the “CEO of Samsung Electronics, Ko Dong-jin, was confident that Samsung Galaxy S9’s popularity would increase” but that “in Korea, the Samsung Galaxy S9 pre-bookings were lower than expected,” quoted a report by Yonhap News.
The website stated, “According to different telecoms agencies, customers were less enthusiastic about the new Samsung Galaxy S9 and S9 Plus.” Further, “’the popularity and customer’s interest in the latest products are not as high as those of the previous years’,” said a local mobile carrier dealer.”
Consumers think that the Samsung Galaxy S9 and S9 Plus are “not much different” from the S8. While the S9 and S9 Plus have significantly improved in terms of camera, security, and processing power features, the appearance is almost identical to last year’s model.
Another industry official said, “Consumers nowadays are keeping their current smartphonesfor longer periods of time.”
The extended upgrade cycle is affecting the entire smartphone industry. Market researcher Piper Jaffray said in a survey that the extended upgrade cycle is one of the main reasons why the Apple iPhone X is also selling fewer than expected.
Samsung Electronics announced on May 5th that it had surpassed 1.6 million people in five days in their Samsung Galaxy S9 pre-experience zone. The media were quick to point out, “It’s a huge number of people, but it’s meaningless for sales.” They further added, “we do not know how many of those people will actually buy the Galaxy S9 or S9 Plus.”
Meanwhile, researcher Jeff Johnston of Arthur Wood Research said that the Galaxy S9 “can expect a 10-15% growth rate” compared to the Galaxy S8. However, sales officials told Jeff Johnston that pre-orders of the Samsung Galaxy S9 were about 50% lower than the S8.
“It is hard to jump to any conclusions, but if it is true, the prospects of Samsung’s new smartphone are dark,” he said.
Samsung Electronics’ Galaxy S9 will be officially released on the 16th of this month.
