Report: Samsung Ships 20 Million Galaxy S4 Smartphones

Many industry watchers have been speculating that sales of the Samsung Galaxy S4 smartphone have been slow, but new reports from Korea say that the company has actually shipped 20 million of the devices since its launch in April. That would be a record for Samsung and for Android.

The Inquirer’s Carly Page reported, “Korean phone maker Samsung’s flagship Galaxy S4 smartphone reportedly has passed 20 million sales since its launch in April, despite speculation that sales had slowed. That’s according to the Korea Times, which has heard from sources at Samsung, including the firm’s CEO and co-CEO, that the handset has reached the 20 million sales milestone. The report quoted a Samsung executive as saying that an ‘official announcement is coming soon,’ while another confirmed that the report is correct.”

Fionna Agomuoh with The International Business Times noted, “The Galaxy S4 was released to international markets in late April, and it sold 10 million handsets in less than one month. Having kept up that pace for a second month, the device is not only selling approximately 1.7 times faster than its predecessor, the Samsung Galaxy S3, which sold 20 million handsets in 100 days, but is now the fastest selling Android device in the world.”

But The Next Web’s Jon Russell cautioned, “While it has been Samsung’s most successful launch to date, it’s important to remember that shipments don’t equate to end user sales. Likewise it’s worth recalling that Apple sold 5 million iPhone 5s during the first weekend of sales in September 2012 and it sold 37 million iPhones in Q2 2013. Samsung’s achievement is impressive, but it isn’t industry-leading just yet.”

The Apple Insider’s Sam Oliver added, “While the Galaxy S4 is still on a record setting pace according to the latest reports, demand has unsurprisingly cooled significantly since the device launched. Apple has seen the same trends, with iPhone sales booming around the launch of a new model.”