The official announcement for the highly anticipated Samsung Galaxy S8 and Galaxy S8 Plus is nearing. However, Samsung may not have enough devices to meet the sales demand due to problems with 10nm yield rates being so low. These low yield rates of the 10nm chips are used in the newest Qualcomm Snapdragon 835 processor in the new Galaxy S8 series and Samsung does not need another problem when it comes to its sales figures, as they already suffered in the first quarter of 2017 without the Galaxy Note 7 sales to sustain the company until the new Galaxy S8 hits the market.
Since Samsung uses two different chipsets – the Snapdragon 835 in the US market and their Exynos 8895 in other regions – one might assume that Samsung could fall back on and use their Exynos 8895, but the problem is that chipset also uses the new 10nm chip and therefore, production of those chips is also falling behind. While Samsung may have enough of the Snapdragon 835 chips ready to go for the US, on a global scale, it could spell trouble for Samsung. This low yield is another reason that LG and HTC is thought to have opted for the Snapdragon 821 chipset instead – as supplies are plentiful, guaranteeing there will be no delays.
Samsung expected to have the upper hand when it came to launching their new Galaxy S8 and S8 Plus this Spring, and it needed that influx of sales and cash to make up for the Galaxy Note 7 fiasco. With the official announcement about to happen and with availability expected to follow suit in the next couple of weeks, Samsung does have some time to stock the warehouses. However, if the demand for the Galaxy S8 series is anything like Samsung is likely expecting it to be, the supply may indeed run short. As with anything, not having the necessary components ready early enough to meet demand might not only affect initial sales, but could also result in dampened sales overall. Not all consumers are happy to wait for a smartphone to become available and this is an issue that has plagued a number of handsets in the past. The Google Pixel and Pixel XL being two of the most recent smartphones that have had issues with meeting demand. With a device as important as the Galaxy S8, Samsung will be hoping that they are able to produce enough once the device becomes readily available.