The Galaxy Note 7 ended up being a nightmare for Samsung last year when battery fires caused the company to recall and discontinue the device. But this year, the Galaxy S8 and Galaxy S8+ have been nothing short of a dream so far for Samsung. Leaks and rumors stirred up tons of buzz ahead of the new flagship phones’ unveiling last month, and early hands-on Galaxy S8 previews have been nothing short of glowing. Now, for a little extra icing on top of an already well-decorated cake, a new report suggests that demand for Samsung’s higher-priced Galaxy S8+ is even better than expected, so Samsung is cranking up production to meet increased demand.
Samsung’s actual BOM and margins on the Galaxy S8 and Galaxy S8+ will likely never be known by anyone outside the company. In general, however, companies tend to enjoy bigger margins on pricier phablets. For that reason, the better-than-expected demand for Samsung’s larger Galaxy S8+ has surely come as great news for the company, which is expecting record sales of its new flagship smartphones.
A report from South Korean site The Investor states that Samsung had initially planned on a 60/40 sales split, where 60% of all new Galaxy S phones would be smaller Galaxy S8 models, while 40% would be larger Galaxy S8+ models. Now that preorders are underway and Samsung is getting a better idea of demand, the company has reportedly bumped up the Galaxy S8+ to 45% of total production as opposed to 40%.
The Galaxy S8+ has a bigger housing, a bigger display, a bigger battery and more glass than the smaller model, but those additions likely cost the company less than the $100 premium it’s charging over the $750 price of the smaller Galaxy S8. Samsung might not have had the most festive Christmas last year thanks to the Note 7, but it looks like Christmas is coming early in 2017.
