14 DAY TRIAL // A report by Naver (via SamMobile) cites an industry expert who claims that Samsung has set the production rate in favor of the Galaxy S8 Plus, as the company reportedly believes that the larger S8 will outsell the standard model.
The actual production numbers weren’t released, but it would be interesting to see how many more Galaxy S8 Plus units Samsung believes that fans would buy, compared to the standard S8 model. The rumored 6.2-inch screen on the Galaxy S8 Plus is said to drive the phone’s price up at least $100, while device performance is said to be the same as on the Galaxy S8.
That being said, the 5.7-inch screen on the Galaxy S8 isn’t by any means small, it’s still in the category of large phones. Apple’s iPhone 7 Plus with a 5.5-inch display is considered a large phone and it outsold the standard iPhone 7 model with a 4.7-inch screen, although higher sales could be attributed to the dual camera setup on the Plus model.
Over the past few years, Samsung has been gradually increasing the display size of its flagships. In 2015, Samsung misjudged sale projections and the Galaxy S6 edge with a dual-curved 5.1-inch display outsold the standard model. The company didn’t have enough supply to meet the high demand of Galaxy S6 edge phones.
Galaxy S8 and Galaxy S8 Plus will be announced on March 29
The following year, Samsung learned its lesson and produced more Galaxy S7 edge units. The smartphone with a 5.5-inch dual-curved display outsold the standard model with a 5.5-inch screen again. The Galaxy S7 edge accounted for almost 70% of all Galaxy S7 sales.
However, a larger display on the Galaxy S7 edge wasn’t the only factor that contributed to higher sales. Both the Galaxy S6 edge and the S7 edge had dual-curved displays, a feature that other smartphone makers have started to implement in their phones.
The Galaxy S8 and S8 Plus are rumored to both come with dual-edge screens, which means that customers would have to pay solely for a larger display and it would be interesting to see if a flagship with a screen that surpasses 6 inches will be more appealing that a “smaller” model. If so, then other smartphone makers could follow and display sizes larger than 6 inches could become the norm in the next few years.
Samsung is expected to announce the Galaxy S8 and Galaxy S8 Plus during the Galaxy Unpacked event on March 29.