Samsung Electronics Co.’s new foldable smartphones that support 5G services are on display at a store in central Seoul in this file photo taken Aug. 12, 2021. (Yonhap)
SEOUL, Oct. 11 (Korea Bizwire) — Samsung Electronics Co. doesn’t look that happy despite higher than expected sales of its new foldable smartphones primarily because the company is having difficulty satisfying robust demand due to a global chip shortage.
The combined domestic sales of the Galaxy Z Fold3 and the Galaxy Z Flip3 surpassed the 1 million mark only 39 days after they were officially launched.
The problem facing Samsung is that the supply of the third generation of the Galaxy Z series is lagging far behind demand.
To purchase and use these foldable phones, consumers need to wait for up to one month. Some smartphone shops are not selling these products due to the shortage of supplies.
The primary factor behind this situation is the semiconductor supply crunch that persists worldwide. Application processors and other components are also falling behind demand.
Another analysis puts the blame on company management, which failed to correctly forecast demand for the Galaxy Z Fold3 and the Galaxy Z Flip3.
The pre-order sales of the new foldable phones reached 920,000 units, far higher than the 80,000 units reported for the Galaxy Z Fold2 that was released in the latter half of last year, and 300,000 units for the flagship smartphone Galaxy S21 that was released in the first half of this year.
J. S. Shin (js_shin@koreabizwire.com)
