Samsung Electronics expects the sales of the Galaxy S8 and the Galaxy S8 Plus will surpass those of the Galaxy S7 and the Galaxy S7 Edge, at least according to the company’s mobile chief Koh Dong-jin (DJ Koh). A spokesman for the company recently confirmed Koh’s expectations in a statement given to the Korean media, noting that Samsung’s official didn’t set a specific sales target, at least not one that Samsung is currently prepared to share publicly. Regardless, the Seoul-based tech giant previously revealed that last year’s Galaxy S7 series set a new in-house record for sales in the first year and industry watchers estimate the Galaxy S7 and the Galaxy S7 Edge sold over 48 million units by early 2017. Several reports from February also suggested that the South Korean phone maker increased the initial production volume of the Galaxy S8 and the Galaxy S8 Plus to approximately 17 million, with industry sources claiming the company is aiming to sell 60 million units in total by the end of the life cycle of both handsets.
Koh’s recent statement seemingly corroborates those earlier reports, especially in light of the fact that Samsung is currently under a lot of pressure from both investors and consumers to make amends for the Galaxy Note 7 debacle that lost the company billions of dollars last fall. The ordeal caused by Samsung’s defective flagship prone to catching fire and exploding was initially believed to be the end of Koh’s career at the company, but Samsung’s management ultimately decided to stick with the executive and allow his to oversee the development and launch of yet another high-end smartphone. Given that state of affairs, the Seoul-based company will naturally be looking to outsell the widely successful Galaxy S7 and the Galaxy S7 Edge in hopes of overshadowing last year’s fiasco that cast some doubt on the company’s management structure and quality assurance practices, the latter of which have already been improved, which is something that Samsung is eager to publicize.
While it remains to be seen whether Samsung will manage to meet Koh’s high expectations, an update on the commercial performance of its latest Android flagships will follow shortly. The Galaxy S8 and the Galaxy S8 Plus are scheduled to launch worldwide on April 21.