The Galaxy S20 5G series is nowhere near as popular as the Galaxy S10

The Samsung Galaxy S10 series was met with almost universal praise when it first launched in early 2019 but the same cannot be said about the newer Galaxy S20 series. That poor reception has reportedly led to drastically weaker sales.

Samsung Galaxy S20 sales are down over 30%

Market research firm Omdia has revealed (via The Elec) that Samsung shipped a combined 8.2 million units of the premium Galaxy S20, Galaxy S20 Ultra, and Galaxy S20+ during the first quarter of the year. That coincides with the first three weeks of sales.

Shipping such a large number of flagship smartphones in under a month is certainly an impressive feat and one that is rarely replicated by rival Android manufacturers. But when compared to previous Galaxy S lineups, these latest sales numbers are quite disappointing. 

The Samsung Galaxy S10 and Galaxy S10+ alone sold a combined 10.3 million units during the first quarter of 2019. When Galaxy S10e shipments are factored in, that number rises to around 12.5 million units.

This year was an unusual one due to the COVID-19 pandemic, which undoubtedly affected sales in many global markets, but data suggests the higher price points Samsung targeted have also stopped customers from upgrades.

Shipments for the Galaxy S20 series are down by almost 35% when compared to the previous-generation lineup. The global smartphone market, for reference, declined 13% in the first quarter due to an extremely tough February in China and the impact on international sales in March.

The Galaxy S20+ was the most popular model

The most popular flagship model from Samsung was the Galaxy S20+ with sales of 3.5 million units, down from the 5.2 million units the previous most popular model – the Galaxy S10 – shipped a year earlier.

The smartphone was the 9th best-selling device globally during the quarter. It came in ahead of the budget Galaxy A30s but behind the iPhone 11 Pro, Galaxy A10s, iPhone 11 Pro Max, iPhone XR, Redmi Note 8 Pro, Redmi Note 8, Galaxy A51, and iPhone 11, with the latter being the highest selling model.

As for the lucrative 5G smartphone market, the Galaxy S20+ 5G was the most popular device by a decent margin with 3.5 million units, as mentioned above. The Huawei Mate 30 and Mate 30 Pro followed in second and third place respectively with 2.9 million and 2.7 million units.

The Galaxy S20 and Galaxy S20 Ultra completed the top five in fourth and fifth place respectively. Considering most of Huawei’s sales come from China, it seems Samsung has a massive lead globally.

The next big Samsung flagships launching this year are the Galaxy Note 20 and Note 20+, which are due out in August. The global economy will have hopefully recovered more by then and major countries in Europe and Asia should have the COVID-19 virus under control. 

The United States, which is the most important market for Samsung, doesn't seem to be handling the pandemic as well as other nations thus far. Progress will undoubtedly be made over the summer, but sales in the region could be disproportionately impacted if the situation fails to improve fast enough.

Ultimately, though, the impact on sales across the globe due to the pandemic should be less noticeable than at the moment.