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S6 Sales Less Than Expected

rushmore

rushmore

Extreme Android User
Analysts actually call it a disaster. Even with sell-in noise to help distort launch sales the numbers are low.

Perhaps a vague chance is seeing battery and sd options again! Nah.
 
The catch there from a weighted mix standpoint is not enough to help sales overall. The devices combined are selling in at a lower pace than the S5 which was deemed weak.

This extrapolates poorly for the sales that truly count. Sell through sales to actual consumers.

IMO it seems the more Samsung tries to act like Apple and appease critics, the worse sales could become. Key points of differentiation were the removable battery and sd slot.

Hoping the Note 5 has a replaceable battery and sd slot, but even assuming they wanted to change it is too late for lead time to make a change. Whatever the design is now is what it is.

Added: Luv my Note 4, so hope Samsung gets things right. Apple needs a strong differentiated competitor and not a wannabe clone.
 
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The reality - is, other than most people on this forum (and Apple fans), most people are satisfied with a smartphone that works. They are not looking for upgrades every year, or even 2. Globally, there are more Chinese phones on the market. Not sure how the growth curve can continue. M9 sales are supposedly a disaster. That's just my opinion.
 
The S4, S5, and S6 were all reported in the same fashion, same biases, and had almost identical results doing so - ten million units in about the first month.

The S5 kinda tanked.

Based on that, they're predicting that the S6 will as well.

They could be right.

And if so, I'd agree that would be about the market leveling itself based on other offerings - that as pointed out are greater than ever.

I have good reasons to have never bought a Galaxy S-anything. They didn't complete to win my business - most of the market was happy, fine, but it's never been the definitive Android, no matter how many they sell.

I think that the belief that the S series was the definitive Android fueled their bubble, and fueled a large part of Android's growth.

Android was going to dominate anyway - more handsets at more price points.

The Samsung bubble's disastrous burst was last year's news.

Now they have to eek it out like everyone else.
 
DILands said:
Globally, there are more Chinese phones on the market. Not sure how the growth curve can continue. M9 sales are supposedly a disaster. That's just my opinion.
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Exactly!
JMHO,this is a win for consumers worldwide.
SAMSUNG/HTC/LG/etc....... sooner rather than later,will be forced to price their flagships,if not their entire product line,competitively with the newer/lesser known mfgs.
 
I think Samsung will lose some marketshare due to G4 and decisions with the S6. I got to mess with one at Best Buy. Smooth and cool running.- unlike the G3. Display on G4 makes the weak contrast G3 look poor in comparison.

Added: Sticking with the premise that the more Samsung acts like Apple, the more marketshare they lose to Apple and Android competitors that DO try to differentiate from Apple. The G4 should be a decent test of that theory. The S6 sales already appears to support the theory and the Note 5 could also play into that if it is a bigger version of the S6.

Trying to appease a generally Apple biased media and Apple owners is a futile strategy- as the S6 apparently indicates. Most Apple owners like the Apple ecosystem and UI, plus already have money invested in the apps so will not want to make the jump to another.

Sadly I am about 75% confident the Note 5 will be a big a$$ S6. The good news is the Note 4 still rocks, so not as compelling to jump as I did from the S4. Perhaps LG will fill that niche down the road as well.

FWIW, local Verizon customer feedback and regional store chatter they hear is S6 sales were hurt due to no removable battery and micro sd slot. Samsung appears to have hurt themselves with current customers that were buying their Galaxy products while trying to lure iPhone customers that could care less.
 
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rushmore said:
I think Samsung will lose some marketshare due to G4 and decisions with the S6. I got to mess with one at Best Buy. Smooth and cool running.- unlike the G3. Display on G4 makes the weak contrast G3 look poor in comparison.

Added: Sticking with the premise that the more Samsung acts like Apple, the more marketshare they lose to Apple and Android competitors that DO try to differentiate from Apple. The G4 should be a decent test of that theory. The S6 sales already appears to support the theory and the Note 5 could also play into that if it is a bigger version of the S6.

Trying to appease a generally Apple biased media and Apple owners is a futile strategy- as the S6 apparently indicates. Most Apple owners like the Apple ecosystem and UI, plus already have money invested in the apps so will not want to make the jump to another.

Sadly I am about 75% confident the Note 5 will be a big a$$ S6. The good news is the Note 4 still rocks, so not as compelling to jump as I did from the S4. Perhaps LG will fill that niche down the road as well.

FWIW, Local Verizon feedback and chatter they hear is S6 sales were hurt due to no removable battery and micro sd slot. Samsung appears to have hurt themselves with current customers that did buy their Galaxy products while trying to lure iPhone customers that could care less.
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I feel like Samsung took a gamble here, but they had to. The market share of Apple is growing and with stiff competition in the lower end and midrange with Chinese devices, they had to focus on a device that has a premium look and feel. (Full disclosure: I bought the 64GB S6). The market share for people who value a removable battery and removable storage is shrinking. Do I wish the S6 had those features? Sure, but was it a deal breaker? No, and for the majority of smartphone users it's not. The user base for the Note is much more dependent on and demanding of those features than S users are. I think it's unlikely Samsung will ditch both of these for the Note 5 but in all likelihood it's permanently gone from Galaxy S series (with possible exception of an Active/Sport model). Samsung can't rely on a shrinking group of diehards in to market its mainstream flagship phone to. In my own experience, I have seen retailers (Verizon) promote the iPhone heavily and portray the S6 among other android devices in a negative manner. Also, while I do believe that Samsung has to go after a portion of the iPhone market in order to grow sales, it's an uphill battle. Early iPhones were well ahead of early androids in terms of the user experience. Anecdotally I see it with many of my friends and coworkers who had a good experience with their first iOS device (usually an iPhone 3GS or even older) and that one experience is enough to make them loyal customers for life. One good or bad experience can make or break it for a a lot of customers. My apologies in advance to those who have read a similar rambling post I made on another forum lol.
 
chart-ww-smartphone-os-market-share.png


http://www.idc.com/prodserv/smartphone-os-market-share.jsp

http://www.forbes.com/sites/amitchowdhry/2015/03/04/apple-passes-samsung/

http://www.comscore.com/Insights/Ma...ry-2015-US-Smartphone-Subscriber-Market-Share

https://gigaom.com/2015/02/04/android-and-ios-are-nearly-tied-for-u-s-smartphone-market-share/

According to the numbers the only people that care about Apple are their owners and the press.

After the usual release bump, it's back to business as usual for Apple - declining.
 
Hence the point, Samsung is trying to appease those that could care less. Their focus should be keeping the customers they have and luring new ones that are not yet vested in the Apple ecosystem.

Making an iClone does not seem the best strategy and plays into Apple's hands.
 
rushmore said:
Hence the point, Samsung is trying to appease those that could care less. Their focus should be keeping the customers they have and luring new ones that are not yet vested in the Apple ecosystem.

Making an iClone does not seem the best strategy and plays into Apple's hands.
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The new design helped pull my sister away from iOS to Android. That being said, I don't view the S6 as a iClone. If you want to lure new customers away from choosing iOS you must have a more premium build. Although I would have traded a slight bit of thickness for a little bit bigger battery. The 2550mah is adequate for me but (still better SOT than my old Droid DNA) but 2800-2900 would have been ideal.
 
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