14 DAY TRIAL // Samsung’s Galaxy S7 and S7 Edge continue to be some of the most heavily advertised smartphones all around the world and they are well on their way to dominating the U.S. market.
According to a new report by Kantar WorldPanel, the two phones managed to earn 5.8% of Q1 2016 in smartphone sales, a high percentage considering that the two devices were launched on March 11, three weeks before the fiscal period ended.
The report details that the Galaxy S7 became the fifth best-selling phone in Q1 2016, clearly surpassing its predecessor, the Galaxy S6, which only managed to take up 3.2% of market share. The Galaxy S6 ranked as the 10th best-selling smartphone in the same quarter of last year.
With the release of Galaxy S7, it seems that Samsung successfully addressed user complaints regarding the previous model. The lack of removable storage was fixed, as users got the option to add up to 200GB of memory with a microSD card.
The Gear VR was a major factor in consumer decision to buy
Camera performance and overall device speed were also improved, not to mention that battery capacity was increased to 3000 mAh. The study reports that consumers paid most attention to battery and storage capacity, with 50.9% stating that the expandable memory prompted the decision to buy.
Another factor that influenced consumer decision to purchase the device was exclusive deals, as well as promotions. Orders placed before March 18 shipped together with a Gear VR (valued at $99.99 or €87) and six VR games for free.
AT&T and T-Mobile offered two phones at the price of one and Best Buy included a Gear VR and 64GB SIM card upon purchase of an S7. Other retailers offered Samsung HD TV sets or other devices.
Samsung Galaxy S6 failed to surpass iPhone 6 as the best-selling phone in the U.S., but Samsung seems to have learned its lesson and might actually capture the top spot with the S7 in Q2 2016, as promotions continue to pour in and the device continues to be heavily advertised throughout the online and offline media.
