Samsung aiming to sell 60 million Galaxy S8 smartphones this year

While we have just got our first glimpse of the Samsung Galaxy S8, the industry sources now claim that Samsung has set its goals pretty high for it upcoming flagship smartphone.

The Investor has reported , “The tech giant has requested its partners to supply (parts) based on the tech giant’s 60 million shipment goal.” The information comes from an industry source who conveyed the same to the publication on conditions of anonymity. The same source also added that Samsung will be launching its smartphone in mid-April, which falls in line with previous rumours about the smartphone.

Coming to the shipment goal, it is a lot higher than recent years. 60 million units is a lot higher than last year’s Galaxy S7 which saw sales of 48 million units and counting. Compare this to the Galaxy S5 and Galaxy S6 which both managed to push out only 45 million units each. The Galaxy S4 from 2014 however still remains at the top with 70 million units sold.

Mass production of the Samsung Galaxy S8 begins in March where Samsung is expected to move at a quick pace of 5 million units per month. The components from the same will arrive from vendors in February. This would also include an Iris scanner that made its debut on the Galaxy series with the now dead, Note 7.

While the goals are set sky high, the Note 7 debacle may have lost Samsung a couple of customers. Nomura Securities claims that rival Apple is expected to sell up to 80 million units of its upcoming iPhone 8 by the end of this year.

While Samsung will get a massive headstart, it will need a really impressive Galaxy S8 smartphone to haul in those customers. Another threat also comes from Huawei that has been witnessing high growth rates in recent quarters.

China’s Huawei Technologies wants to be the world’s second-largest maker of smartphones in two years, Richard Yu, chief executive of Huawei’s consumer business group, told Reuters. Huawei has been active in the consumer devices market for only a few years and is now the third-biggest smartphone maker after Apple Inc and the world leader in the $400 billion market, Samsung Electronics.

Little is known about the Samsung Galaxy S8. From the leaked photo that recently surfaced online, it appears to look similar to the Galaxy S7 edge with a dual-curved edge display, and ultra-thin bezels on the sides. The top and bottom bezels have been chiseled as well leaving little space for the receiver, sensors and the front-facing camera. The bottom area seems to feature no buttons at all hinting at an invisible ultrasonic fingerprint reader that could be hidden in the chin along with capacitive keys that light up on touch.