The Galaxy S20 series could struggle to live up to the S10 for Samsung

Samsung fans were fairly excited when the new Samsung Galaxy S20 range launched last month. Now, the difficult conditions in the global market mean the S20 might fail to out-sell its predecessor, the Galaxy S10. 

The coronavirus outbreak has put the breaks on the industry, with issues appearing on both the supply and demand sides of Samsung’s plans. With an increasing amount of people globally working from home, self-isolating and retail outlets being forced to close, phone upgrades and purchases have – completely understandably – slid down most people’s list of priorities.

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Last year, both the S10 and the S10 Plus sold very well. The Korean tech giant was no doubt hoping to produce similar figures with the S20, but unpredictable market conditions, largely due to Covid-19, have hampered sales.

We weren’t surprised that the Galaxy S10 sold so well. It was a phone packed with features and functionality and our reviewer gave it a four-and-a-half star rating.

He wrote: “While the Samsung Galaxy S10 doesn’t excel in any one specific area, the collective package makes for an incredibly capable offering – which I’m sure was Samsung’s aim in the first place. It sports a stunning OLED screen, versatile camera and a number of enticing new features. It’s a great phone.”

Similarly, the S20 has been painted as an all-rounder since release and bagged the same rating from Trusted Reviews. We saw huge improvements in the camera, but had frustrations too.

Our review reads: “With powerful Android phones getting bigger all the time, the comparably diminutive Samsung Galaxy S20 is a refreshing change of pace. It also happens to be the best Android phone you can buy right now.

“There are very few surprises with the Galaxy S20. It’s a Samsung flagship through and through: top-end specs, classic Samsung design and so on.Everything just seems that bit better this time around – especially the camera, which offers a significant bump-up on Samsung’s previous efforts.”

Read our Samsung Galaxy S20 review

So, Samsung made improvements all round, but might not be able to capitalise on that with the sales it expected. Conditions well beyond the control of the company will seemingly hold the phone back.

Of course, it’s far from the biggest concern at present – at Samsung, or anywhere else – but those studying the markets will marvel at the sheer bad luck of Samsung’s launch timing.