Samsung's big disappointment: Galaxy S5 fails to replicate success of S4

Is the Samsung Galaxy flagship losing its sheen? After the rapturous reception received by the Samsung S4 series, the S5 seems to have more or less fallen flat. It has been reported that Samsung sold 40 percent fewer **Galaxy S5** phones during the first three months of sale than expected. Wall Street Journal quoting sources, has reported that the Galaxy S5 has sold approximately 12 million phones  in the first three months after release, compared to 16 million for the **Galaxy S4**  in 2013. In China, Samsung’s second-largest market by revenue, Galaxy S5 sales were down by about 50 percent from those of its direct predecessor during the first six months that the device was on sale. It was only in the US that Samsung sold more Galaxy S5 smartphones than it did the S4. It has also been reported that JK Shin, President of mobile communications and currently one of three co-CEOs, could lose his position and his responsibilities might be transferred to B.K. Yoon, currently overseeing the home appliance division. It is rather astonishing that the Galaxy S5 is not flourishing as the company had expected. A few months ago, Samsung’s Senior Vice President, Yoon Han-kil had gone on record claiming that the **Galaxy S5 was outselling the previous S4** . Samsung, which had sold more than 10 million Galaxy S4 smartphones in the first month of the phone’s launch was confident that the S5 would do significantly better than this. Even after the company enhanced their S5 by focusing on key enhancements such as water-resistance, a better camera and “ultra power-savings mode”, it seems like the phone is still not making profits. According to the latest numbers from IDC, Samsung’s **smartphone share in India** has dipped from 31% in the second quarter last year to 29% in the same period this year. Samsung estimated that the median forecast of its July-September operating income at 4.1 trillion won ($3.8 billion), lower than the median of analysts’ estimate of 5.2 trillion won according to FactSet, a financial data provider. That is a 60 percent plunge from record-high 10.2 trillion won a year earlier.