Report: Galaxy S7 is proving more popular than the Galaxy S6

After Samsung issued its rather positive earnings guidance the other day, there’s been an air of optimism about the company’s previously under performing mobile business. It seems that this sentiment is well founded, as Counterpoint research reports that Samsung has sold 20 percent more Galaxy S7 and S7 Edge units in their first month than it did for the Galaxy S6 series.

Counterpoint’s research has collated sales data from 40 different Galaxy S7 launch markets. At its peak, the research notes that some markets have seen up to a 50 percent growth rate in Galaxy flagship launch sales. Although Samsung’s home market of South Korea has remained mostly flat. In total, Counterpoint predicts that Samsung has already shipped some 10 million Galaxy S7 and S7 Edge smartphones around the world.

“The subtle industrial design tweaks such as the rounded back and reduced protrusion of the camera make for an improved in hand feel.  In addition, the enhanced camera performance, expandable memory storage, waterproof capability and lower price is proving to hit the right note with consumers.” – Neil Shah, Research Director with Counterpoint

The USA certainly isn’t one of the fastest growing mobile markets and is often thought of as over-saturated and fatigued with high-end smartphones, but even there Galaxy S7 sales are apparently up 30 percent. European sales are said to be up 20 percent from the Galaxy S6 launch period, and Samsung is even noting a 10 percent improvements in China, the most competitive market around the world.

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One particularly interesting point picked up on in the report is that Samsung has a much better handle on its display supply chain this time around. If you recall, reports suggested that Samsung did not have enough production capacity to meet demand for its Galaxy S6 Edge last time around, leaving it overstocked on regular handsets. This time Samsung isn’t facing any such problems, and even has enough curved displays to sell to other manufacturers.

The Galaxy S7 series isn’t the only new smartphone range that appears to be a big hit for the company. The Galaxy J range looks to be off to a very strong start in India and is helping Samsung fight off competition in the cost effective portions of the market, where company’s like Xiaomi and HUAWEI have carved out strong segments for themselves.

The Galaxy S7 certainly does a lot of things right and has come at just the right time for Samsung, as other manufacturers are working even harder to differentiate their next-gen products. It is going to be interesting and important to see if Samsung can maintain this momentum throughout the rest of 2016.