Samsung increased the first shipments of the Galaxy S8 and the Galaxy S8 Plus to almost 17 million units, recent reports from South Korea suggest. The Seoul-based tech giant is reportedly expecting a huge demand for its upcoming Android flagships, which is why the company increased their initial shipments by approximately 40 percent in comparison to the Galaxy S7 and the Galaxy S7 Edge which originally shipped in 12 million units last spring.
Following the discontinuation of the Galaxy Note 7, Samsung increased the production volumes of both the Galaxy S7 and the Galaxy S7 Edge, but the firm’s 2016 flagship duo still didn’t manage to make up for all of the sales that the company lost due to its faulty phablet. Due to that state of affairs, Samsung is now expecting that the demand for the Galaxy S8 and the Galaxy S8 Plus will be higher than usual and is looking to prepare accordingly. Previous reports indicate that the largest phone maker in the world is looking to record approximately 60 million sales with the Galaxy S8. For reference, Samsung sold approximately 48 million units of the Galaxy S7 and the Galaxy S7 Edge and around 45 million units of the Galaxy S6, Galaxy S6 Edge, and the Galaxy S6 Edge Plus. Industry watchers believe the company will manage to ship up to 55 million units of the Galaxy S8 and the Galaxy S8 Plus by the end of the year.
Samsung’s desire to increase the initial shipments of its upcoming smartphones is naturally limited by the availability of key components for both devices. A recent report indicates that Samsung Display will be able to manufacture around 16 million OLED panels for the firm’s upcoming flagship duo during the first quarter of the year, six million of which will be supplied for the Galaxy S8 Plus. However, that information directly contradicts a previous rumor according to which Samsung is prioritizing the larger variant of the Galaxy S8 over the smaller one. More details on both devices are expected to surface soon as the Seoul-based phone maker is allegedly planning to unveil the Galaxy S8 and the Galaxy S8 Plus next month.