Samsung Electronics sold 590,000 units in the first month of the’Galaxy S21′ series of flagship smartphones released on January 29th, recording sales volume comparable to that of the Galaxy S8. This is the result of the combination of lower shipping prices compared to the previous work and demand for 5G conversion.
According to the market research firm Atlas Research & Consulting on the 5th, the cumulative domestic sales volume for 4 weeks after the launch of the Galaxy S21 is about 590,000 units. This is similar to the sales volume of 620,000 units for the first month in Korea of the Galaxy S8 released in 2017, and it attracts attention with a rebound in about three years. Atlas Research & Consulting cited the reasons for the surge in Galaxy S21 sales volume: △lower shipping price compared to the previous version, △ increasing replacement demand for LTE model users, △ expanding 5G marketing by mobile carriers.
Samsung Electronics Galaxy S21 Series (Photo = Samsung Electronics)
It is analyzed that the strong sales of the Galaxy S21 was the most affected by the factory price cut. Samsung Electronics set the price of the basic model of the Galaxy S21 at 990,900 won. Compared to the basic model of the previous Galaxy S20, the factory price of 12,48500 won is about 20% lower. The price of the plus model and the ultra model has also been lowered compared to the previous one.
This soon led to changes in sales trends by model. In the case of the Galaxy S20, the proportion of basic, plus, and ultra models sold evenly at 30.5%, 38.5%, and 31.0%, respectively, while the Galaxy S21’s basic sales accounted for 49.5%, accounting for half. The positive and ultra ratios were 21.7% and 28.9%, respectively, showing no significant difference. It is analyzed that consumers waiting for the launch of inexpensive flagship smartphones to purchase the Galaxy S21 while the prices of flagship smartphones in the industry have risen in recent years.
Samsung Electronics’ Galaxy S20 and S21 sales share by model (Source = Atlas Research & Consulting)
According to Samsung Electronics, the proportion of self-sufficient models (air machines) of the Galaxy S21’s domestic sales for the first week is about 30%. This is also a number that has more than doubled compared to the previous work, and it is interpreted as reflecting the consumption sentiment to reduce the increased burden of purchasing smartphones by combining the self-sufficiency model and the affordable phone plan.
“Korea is a country with a very high proportion of flagship sales,” said Jung Geun-ho, director of Atlas Research & Consulting.
The overall sales volume of the Galaxy S21 is also expected to increase. Counterpoint Research, a market research firm, predicted the domestic sales of Galaxy S21 in 2021 in January of about 2.4 million units. This is a 40% increase from the previous work. In addition, given the recent trend of rapid 5G conversion by mobile communication users, there is a possibility that the demand for device replacement of older LTE models including the Galaxy S9 model will be concentrated on the Galaxy S21. As the Galaxy S21 series was released about two months ahead of its predecessors, the demand for device replacement is expected to increase even more from March to April, the time of the previous announcement.