14 DAY TRIAL // Samsung’s new Galaxy S9 is now available for buyers across the world, but early figures show rather slow excitement for the new model.
Retailers in South Korea, which is Samsung’s home market, claim that demand is substantially lower than for the Galaxy S8 launched one year ago, and the main reason is just how similar the new model is with its predecessor.
A report from Business Korea and citing two different retailers indicates that both the Galaxy S8 and the Galaxy A8 are currently cannibalizing sales of the new flagship, as they’re said to bring similar value at a much more affordable price.
“It seems many consumers are thinking that the latest models are not that different from the Galaxy S8 and Galaxy A8, which were released a year ago and in January this year, respectively,” one retailer was quoted as saying when looking at sales in the first week of the new model.
“Our recent best seller is the Galaxy A8, which is inexpensive yet as high-performance as Galaxy S phones. The Galaxy A8, which comes with dual front cameras, is very popular with teenagers and those in their 20s taking a lot of selfies. An increasing number of consumers are opting for inexpensive older phones these days amid the lack of significant performance improvement,” another one added.
More expensive smartphone
As we’ve said in our review of the Samsung Galaxy S9, the new model doesn’t bring too many upgrades over its predecessor, mostly because it’s very likely to play the role of a transition model. Samsung is expected to release more substantial upgrades in 2019 when the company celebrates the tenth anniversary of the Galaxy S family of products, and a special model is likely to be introduced as well.
There are rumors that Samsung could rename the Galaxy S to Galaxy X for the 2019 generation, and the company itself suggested that a new moniker is on the table.
The source cited above claims the penalty that South Korea’s carriers, namely SK Telecon, KT, and LG U+, received for illegal incentives could also be a reason for slower sales of the Galaxy S9, as the device is more expensive than the previous models.