SEOUL: Samsung Electronics' struggle to keep pace with rampant demand for its new Galaxy S III smartphone may have cost the South Korean firm some 2 million units of sales in just a month.
For a company that has never stirred the sort of consumer frenzy that accompanies each new Apple gadget, overwhelming demand is a nice problem to have. But some of the shortage stemmed from a manufacturing glitch that affected some European sales, while major carriers in the United States have had to delay delivery of some pre-ordered phones.
The Galaxy S III has received the most positive reviews among any of the Samsung smartphones, and the technology giant says the phone is on track to become its fastest selling smartphone, with sales likely to top 10 million in the first two months since its launch.
The latest Galaxy's launch has been well timed as the next iPhone is not expected until later this year, and offerings from others such as Google's Motorola and Nokia have not created much of a market stir.
For a company that has never stirred the sort of consumer frenzy that accompanies each new Apple gadget, overwhelming demand is a nice problem to have. But some of the shortage stemmed from a manufacturing glitch that affected some European sales, while major carriers in the United States have had to delay delivery of some pre-ordered phones.
The Galaxy S III has received the most positive reviews among any of the Samsung smartphones, and the technology giant says the phone is on track to become its fastest selling smartphone, with sales likely to top 10 million in the first two months since its launch.
The latest Galaxy's launch has been well timed as the next iPhone is not expected until later this year, and offerings from others such as Google's Motorola and Nokia have not created much of a market stir.
"Samsung might have been caught off guard by the demand, not because they did not believe in their own products, but because they might have over-estimated the competition," said Gartner analyst Carolina Milanesi. "In other words, aside from the iPhone and HTC's One X there's not much out there at the moment, which would have certainly helped Samsung."
Analysts reckon the Galaxy shortage will be a temporary hiccup, affecting some 2 million units of shipments in the April-June quarter. Samsung expects another record quarter of earnings from its handset business in the current period, helped by solid sales of its predecessor S II and phone-cum-tablet Galaxy Note.
Barclays lowered its forecast for Samsung's second-quarter Galaxy S III shipments to 6.5 million from 8 million, but raised its third-quarter shipment forecast by 1 million to 15 million.
Samsung said component shortages have been resolved and it is running at full tilt to meet demand. "It is simply that demand far exceeded our expectation. But that doesn't mean we had set a very conservative demand forecast," Samsung said in an emailed statement to Reuters.
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