Galaxy Z Flip sale better than the first Samsung foldable phone: Report

Despite Galaxy Z Flip’s commercial success, Samsung is set to take a big hit in the second quarter due to the Covid-19 pandemic

Galaxy Z Flip outperforms the first Samsung foldable phone: Report (REUTERS)

Samsung's first commercial foray into foldable phones had a rocky start. Its Galaxy Fold got delayed for months due to the critical design and display issues. The company, however, didn't give up on the form factor and experimented with a flip-style Galaxy Z Flip earlier this year. The bet seems to have paid off as a new report claims Z Flip is doing much better than the original Galaxy Fold.

According to an econotimes report (via GSMArena), Samsung sold 230,000 units of Galaxy Z Flip in the month of March. The company sold about 400,000 units of the original Galaxy Fold in 2019. While the report doesn't delve the factors that led to the better performance, it's likely the unique design (marketing proposition) coupled with a relatively lower price tag helped the company.

The Galaxy Z Flip, however, may the sole shining star for the company. The report says Samsung's Galaxy S20 series sales have plummeted, by at least 35% year-on-year.

The slump, however, is likely to worsen in the second quarter for Samsung. With the Covid-19 lockdowns in many markets, smartphone companies haven't been able to sell at larger volumes they're used.

Samsung has already warned of a drop in the second quarter. "Due to the impact of COVID-19, overall market demand fell significantly QoQ and the Company's smartphone shipments also declined in the first quarter. However, the Company maintained sound profitability by improving the product mix, increasing the sales portion of 5G models and using marketing expenses efficiently during the period. In particular, the ASP of flagship smartphones increased compared to last year on the back of higher-than-expected share of Galaxy S20 Ultra sales as well as solid sales of the Galaxy Z Flip," noted Samsung in its report.