Samsung's Galaxy S10 has outsold the Galaxy S9 by a significant margin

The Galaxy S10+ was the most popular model

Citing data gathered by Counterpoint Research, it’s reported that Samsung managed to ship an impressive 16 million Galaxy S10 units between the beginning of April and the end of June. The figure combines sales of the Galaxy S10, Galaxy S10+, and Galaxy S10e but excludes the larger Galaxy S10 5G which is only available in a limited number of markets at the moment.

Sales of Samsung’s current flagship lineup are apparently up by a significant margin when compared to 2018’s Galaxy S9 duo. Specifically, the latter sold around 14.3 million units during the same period last year meaning that sales were up by an impressive 12% during the second quarter of 2019. 

As previous reports have indicated, the larger Galaxy S10+ was by far the most popular model of the three. The device accounted for a considerable 42% of total sales, meaning that around 6.7 million units of the flagship were sold during the three-month period. Following in second place was the standard Galaxy S10 with a share of 32% while in third place sat the cheaper Galaxy S10e with 22% of sales. In terms of shipments, these numbers translate into 5.1 million and 3.5 million units respectively.

Curiously, the separate numbers combined leave around 4% of sales and 700,000 units unaccounted for. This would suggest that at least one of the percentages mentioned above is incorrect. As a result, we will update this article if a correction is provided.

Samsung also grew its market share in the premium segment

Samsung isn’t due to release its financial results for the second quarter of 2019 until later this month. As such, it’s hard to determine how the Galaxy S10’s success has benefited the South Korean company’s bottom line at the moment. Nevertheless, the fact consumers appear to be favoring the more expensive options over the cheaper Galaxy S10e can only be a positive sign. This also suggests Samsung has successfully avoided the trend Apple has seen since late September whereby its cheapest flagship offering is also its most popular and its premium devices have become increasingly less interesting to consumers.

In addition to the financial benefits, the Galaxy S10 lineup’s popularity has also helped Samsung grow its market share in the all-important premium segment. Last year, the Galaxy S9 series helped the brand capture 22% of the market but this year Samsung accounted for an impressive 25% of total sales.

The premium segment itself has been experiencing a pretty tough time lately as consumers shy away from more expensive devices. This has severely affected Apple’s iPhone sales but doesn’t appear to have impacted Samsung’s business too much, thus making its achievement even more impressive. Speaking of impressive, it’s also worth pointing out that Samsung’s growth was achieved during a period in which Huawei has continued to experience strong performance when compared to last year – the Huawei P30 series if officially the brand’s fastest selling flagship lineup ever. 

The Galaxy Note 10 will soon boost Samsung's sales again

Moving forward, a rather noticeable decline in demand for the Galaxy S10 is to be expected throughout the remaining months of the year. However, with the Galaxy Note 10 and Galaxy Note 10+ just around the corner, it shouldn’t be too long before Samsung’s premium smartphone business receives a pretty big boost.

The upcoming flagships will be announced on August 7th at the company’s next Unpacked event in New York. Pre-orders for the two models should commence immediately and precede shipments a couple of weeks later. This should give Samsung around one month before strong competition arrives in the form of the iPhone 11 and Huawei Mate 30 Pro.