Galaxy S22 sales expected to top 1 million in S. Korea this week

Samsung Electronics Co. said Wednesday the sales of its latest Galaxy S series are expected to surpass 1 million units in South Korea later this week, two weeks faster than its predecessor did.

The Galaxy S22 series was launched on Feb. 25 with three models -- the Galaxy S22, Galaxy S22 Plus and Galaxy S22 Ultra -- promising stronger performance for daytime and nighttime shooting, among others.

Samsung said its latest flagship smartphone series passed 900,000 in sales earlier this month on its home turf, which translates into an average 24,000 units being sold every day since its launch.

The Galaxy S22 Ultra took up half of the sales, attracting former users of the now discontinued Galaxy Note series with a bigger screen and built-in S Pen.

On Friday, sales of the Galaxy S22 series are forecast to surpass 1 million. If they do, it will be two weeks faster than the Galaxy S21 series did and 47 days faster than the mega-hit Galaxy S10 did in 2019.

The series also has been doing better than its predecessor overseas as well, Samsung said. It said sales rose 70 percent in some markets compared with the predecessor, without providing further details.

The upbeat news came as Samsung was in hot water over the performance-throttling Game Optimization Service in the Galaxy S22 series.

Samsung said the feature was designed to extend battery life and prevent excessive heat but later offered a software update amid strong protests from users. Some 1,800 users filed a class action lawsuit against Samsung over the issue last month.

Overall, the South Korean smartphone market is believed to have shrunk by more than 10 percent on-year to 3.5 million unit sales in the first quarter. (Yonhap)