Samsung's new smartphones are no longer impressive, with the company's top flagships falling to sales levels significantly lower than those of their predecessors.
Living proof is the Galaxy S9, which analysts say can't match market expectations and the sales figures recorded by the Galaxy S8. This is even more worrying, as the Galaxy S8 itself failed to sell as many units as the Galaxy S7.
Details are not available, but it is believed that the last truly successful model released by Samsung was the Galaxy S4, which reached a record of 80 million units sold. The Galaxy S7, however, also did well in sales, but its market performance has gradually declined since then and is expected to continue to decline in the coming months.
Samsung's next model is the Note 9 in August, but given the small number of changes compared to the previous version, it's unlikely to sell in large quantities. The Galaxy S9 itself followed a similar approach, using a design and features similar to those of the Galaxy S8.
Analysts told Reuters that the S9 is on track to sell fewer than the S8 in its first year of release, with revenue obviously being affected.
The company's next big product reveal will be the Galaxy S10 in early 2019, a foldable smartphone also expected in the first few months of the year. The S10 will celebrate the flagship's 10th anniversary and will bring several major upgrades, including what could be a triple-camera system and an in-display fingerprint sensor.
But what's more worrying for Samsung is that while its devices failed to impress, others fared much better. Not only has Apple's iPhone X done extremely well, but Chinese smartphones are also seeing their sales skyrocket around the world.
