Samsung Galaxy S6 Sales Fail To Break Records

Samsung Galaxy S6 Edge: Night At The Museum

Sales of the Samsung Galaxy S6 and S6 Edge are off to a solid start, but perhaps not the start for which Samsung hoped. The phones came in second globally to Apple's iPhone during their first month of availability and failed to match the benchmarks set by Samsung's own Galaxy S4.

Samsung shipped about 10 million units of S6 and S6 Edge to retailers and distributors during April, according to research firm Counterpoint. Estimates place the number of devices actually sold through to consumers at 6 million. Those 6 million units beat the 2014 Galaxy S5, but not the 2013 Galaxy S4, which saw first-month sales closer to 10 million. The improvement in year-over-year sales, however, suggests Samsung's new phones are being well received by consumers.

The standard flat-screen model outsold the curved Edge model by an unknown margin. Counterpoint believes Samsung would have sold a greater number of Edge models had Samsung been able to manufacture more of them. The Edge was in limited supply during the first month of availability due to yield issues with the curved glass.

Samsung predicted the S6 and S6 Edge would be its best-ever sellers, but the company no longer discloses sales figures for its smartphones. Samsung hasn't said how many phones it has sold since launch.

Counterpoint is still bullish on the phone's chances.

[Read about issues with the Galaxy S6's battery.]

"The Samsung Galaxy S6 series has a chance to become the top selling smartphone overtaking Apple's iPhone 6 series, if production issues are solved," said Counterpoint research director Peter Richardson. Sales of Apple's smartphones generally trend downward over the summer months as consumers wait for Apple to announce new models in September.

It is during this window that Counterpoint believes the Galaxy S6 and S Edge will edge out the iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus.

Samsung may be trailing Apple's hardware in sales, but consumers love their Samsung smartphones.

The Samsung Galaxy Note 4 holds the number one spot in consumers' hearts, according to the American Customer Satisfaction Index. The ACSI says Americans rate the Note 4 at 86 out of 100, which means 86% of Note 4 owners are satisfied with their phone. Samsung's Note 3, its Galaxy S5, and Apple's iPhone 6 are in a three-way tie for third place, with each earning a satisfaction rating of 82 out of 100.

The Galaxy S6 wasn't available when the ASCI poll was taken. About 70,000 people participated.

"Apple's long-awaited and much-lauded redesign of its iconic iPhone may have set new records, but its newer models do not appear to have gained any advantage over Samsung's flagship smartphones when it comes to user satisfaction," said the authors of the study.

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