In an interview with The Wall Street Journal, Samsung’s co-chief executive and head of the mobile business J.K. Shin confirmed what some reports already revealed – that the Galaxy S5 has been selling very well in the first month – and provided a sales number for the phone’s first month.
Shin said that Samsung managed to sell 11 million Galaxy S5 units in the first month, beating the Galaxy S4 first month sales by 1 million units.
“It’s been a month since we began selling the S5, and out of the gate, sales are much stronger than the Galaxy S4,” Shin said, adding that sales are particularly good in developed markets including the U.S., Australia and Germany.
Shin explained that the better Galaxy S5 performance is due to “better preparations than in previous years,” including a wider roll out, major carrier agreements and expanded presence in stores such as Best Buy.
Interestingly, Shin said that when designing the Galaxy S5, Samsung took into account input received from after-service centers. Apparently 30% of the phones brought to its service centers were turned in “because people were spilling coffee over them or dropping them in water.”
Shin also sort of acknowledged that the phone could be better, but defended the product, which received some criticism following its launch. “It may not have eye-popping technology but the features are practical,” said Mr. Shin.
Samsung also said that in the coming months, variations of the Galaxy S5 will be released in various countries without revealing their product names. The company is expected to soon launch a Galaxy S5 Prime and a Galaxy S5 Active.
