The company reportedly didn't anticipate the heavy demand for its new Galaxy S6 phones, according to Reuters.
Samsung is likely to bump into trouble meeting demand for its Galaxy S6 lineup.
The Korean mobile phone maker said on Wednesday that demand for its Galaxy S6 lineup is "much higher" than initially planned for, Reuters has reported. The Galaxy S6 and the Galaxy S6 Edge both went on sale last Friday. Though Samsung hasn't released any sales figures for the opening weekend, the two phones had already snagged around 20 million preorders over the past few weeks, according to the Korea Times.
"The two new phones are drawing impressive responses," a source told the Korea Times. "Samsung aims to ship 10 million S6s and S6 Edges in 26 days after the devices' global launch. That target is achievable.
"If true, that would be a much faster record than achieved by previous Galaxy S models.
The reason for Samsung's short supply? Samsung mobile chief JK Shin acknowledged a shortage in supply for the Galaxy S6 Edge. Last week, he told reporters that the company won't be able to keep up with demand for the Edge over the near term because the model's curved screens are more difficult to manufacture, Reuters noted. Still, Samsung is striving to meet global demand for its new phones over the longer haul. "Although there may be some difficulties for the short term, we will do our utmost to secure enough supply for our global consumers," Samsung told Reuters.
Shipments of the Galaxy S6 lineup are expected to jump past the 10 million mark around 26 days following its launch on April 10, sources told the Korea Times.
Samsung has a lot riding on the Galaxy S6. The company has seen its fortunes in the smartphone market take a decided downturn over the past year. Samsung has been facing increased competition on the low end from vendors such as Xiaomi and Huawei and on the high end from Apple. The new big-screened iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus helped Apple steal the top smartphone crown from Samsung during last year's final quarter, according to research firm Gartner. Last week, Samsung said it expects its latest quarterly earnings to fall once again as it tackles the rough competition in the smartphone market.