The Galaxy S20 launch has been a bit of a disaster for Samsung in its home territory of South Korea.
Only 70,800 units were sold on the first day – a 50 percent drop compared to its predecessors, the Galaxy S10 and Galaxy Note 10. These managed to sell 140,000 and 220,000 units at launch, respectively.
What the heck happened? According to one telecom official, the disappointing sales can be blamed squarely on the health epidemic that’s sweeping the globe – COVID-19 – which has apparently claimed the Galaxy S20 as one of its victims.
“Sales were affected by sharp declines in discounts for new phones and the number of visitors to offline stores due to coronavirus infection fears,” claimed a local telecom official.
The loss of retail foot traffic is a definite possibility. South Korea happens to be one of the worst-hit countries aside from China, with over 900 infections and 17 deaths thus far. For many Koreans, securing a flagship smartphone just isn’t a priority right now.
That said, others believe that the root cause of the Galaxy S20’s poor reception lies with its premium pricing. The smartphone starts at $999, and its most powerful variant – the Galaxy S20 Ultra, which carries 16 GB of RAM – costs a particularly eye-watering $1,399. These costs seem to be a little extreme, even for the most dedicated Samsung fans.