After multiple reports revealed that the Galaxy S5 is apparently selling better than its predecessor, a new infographic says that the Galaxy S5 has enjoyed better launch sales than the iPhone 5s did a few months ago during its own launch. iQmetrix measured Galaxy S5 sales during its launch weekend, from April 11th to April 13th, sampling over 15,000 stores across North America, and compared them with iPhone 5s sales from September 20th to September 23rd. The company has gathered its data from its RQ Retail Management system that’s used by wireless retailers in North America to process some 14.5 million handset transactions each year.
According to the infographic, the Galaxy S5 accounted for 25% of total phones sold in the U.S. and Canada during its launch, while the iPhone 5s accounted for 18% of handset sales during its launch in the same markets. The iPhone 5s was launched in late Q3 2013, while the Galaxy S5 was launched in mid Q2 2014.
However, iQmetrix’ study does not mention a key element in its comparison, the number of actual smartphone sales during each launch period in those regions, which would better showcase the Galaxy S5’s launch performance against the iPhone 5s’ launch. Also worth noting is that in 2013, more handsets were sold in the third quarter of the year than in the second quarter, according to data from Gartner. This shows that percentages alone do not paint the full picture for such comparisons. Had the Galaxy S5 launched a quarter later, its percentage of smartphone sales during its launch may have been lower.
Even so, the Galaxy S5 is a strong seller, with Samsung expected to sell 35 million units in the first quarter.
The infographic, available in full below, also said that Galaxy S4 sales grew in the six months leading up to the Galaxy S5 launch, while iPhone 5 sales dropped progressively in the months preceding the iPhone 5s launch.
