• Samsung’s Galaxy S24 series vs S23 series global unit sales during the first three weeks of availability grew 8% YoY
• Driver: S24 Plus sales grows most on strong price-to-specs balance to optimal GenAI experience
• Driver: Developed markets across Western Europe, Korea and US key demand driver on high pre-orders
• Outlook: Samsung’s first GenAI smartphone performance hints at longer-term potential for the segment

Seoul, Beijing, Boston, Buenos Aires, Fort Collins, Hong Kong, London, New Delhi – March 13, 2024

According to Counterpoint Research’s latest Weekly Smartphone Model Sales Tracker, global unit sales of Samsung’s Galaxy S24 series devices grew 8% YoY compared to the Galaxy S23 series during its first three respective weeks of availability. S24 and S24 Ultra demand unit sales remained relatively flat compared to the S24 Plus, which grew by 52% YoY to account for over one-fifth of sales.

“The big driver this year for Samsung’s key flagship has been the S24 Plus model,” states Minsoo Kang, Senior Analyst. “It’s hitting the sweet spot on pricing, nudging upgraders as well as specs to support new users wanting optimized on-device AI.”

Strong performance of the Galaxy Plus series, which comes with a robust 12GB of DRAM – the minimum spec for a large language model to run well – highlights the increasing importance of higher specifications to provide optimized on-device experiences – a key selling point during Samsung’s S24 series launch.

From a regional perspective, the Galaxy S24 series has been especially popular across Western Europe on preorders, as well as Korea and the US, with respective volumes up 28%, 22% and 14%.

“Although overall growth of the Galaxy S24 series remains in single digits globally, it’s high single digits. And in Samsung’s biggest market – the US – we’re seeing YoY growth in the mid-teens – solid numbers especially considering the tough February.” says Jeff Fieldhack, Research Director for North America.  “And considering we’re still really at the beginning stages of the coming GenAI smartphone boom, there is plenty of runway for more growth.”

Background

Counterpoint Technology Market Research is a global research firm specializing in products in the TMT (technology, media and telecom) industry. It services major technology and financial firms with a mix of monthly reports, customized projects and detailed analyses of the mobile and technology markets. Its key analysts are seasoned experts in the high-tech industry.

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