Too much produced: Samsung is probably sitting on 50 million smartphones

According to a new report, Samsung may have overestimated its smartphone demand this year. The manufacturer is said to have produced 50 million devices too many, which are now in dealers’ warehouses.

Like the Korean site The Elec reported, Samsung had set itself a high goal in the last quarter of 2021: 334 million smartphones should be sold in 2022. However, the slow sell-off forced the manufacturer to reduce the numbers to 270 million devices this year. But this goal could also be a long way off, because there are currently 50 million smartphones in dealer warehouses waiting to be sold.

An overproduction of 18 percent

In the early months of the year, Samsung is said to have produced 20 million smartphones per month, reports The Elec. Since May there are said to be only 10 million. This is Samsung’s response to full stocks and low demand. Should the Koreans continue to be stuck with 50 million smartphones by the end of the year, the company would have an overproduction of around 18 percent. An overproduction of around 10 percent would be acceptable, writes The Elec.

Samsung’s A series is weakening

Interestingly, it’s not Samsung’s high-priced flagships like the Galaxy S22 series or the Galaxy Z Fold3 and Z Flip3 that are in storage. According to The Elec, a majority of the smartphones that the manufacturer cannot sell to the public are apparently from the A series. The exact reasons for the weak sales of Samsung’s mid-range series are not known. So far, the A series has been one of Samsung’s best-selling series.

It is possible that consumers will increasingly choose a different manufacturer when choosing a mid-range smartphone. It would also be conceivable that smartphone owners use their devices longer and therefore buy new devices less frequently.