It seems that Samsung may be starting to experience the consequences of its actions. A new report claims that Samsung Galaxy S22 sales have dropped after the Game Optimizing Service scandal, which comes as a massive blow to the company’s expectations for its latest flagship. However, it seems that Samsung has also found ways to try to get out of this mess.
According to a report from The Korea Times, Samsung Galaxy S22 sales are falling due to the latest GOS scandal, and to make things worse, it is also affecting the value of the devices. This is because Samsung’s carrier partners have opted to boost subsidies to keep sales rolling.
For instance, we have KT and LG Uplus offering up to $410 for those still interested in purchasing a new Samsung Galaxy S22 or the Galaxy S22 Plus, which matches the same subsidies received by the higher-end Samsung Galaxy S22 Ultra. Those interested in the previous generation Samsung Galaxy S21 can now receive up to $370. This may not seem like a huge deal, but the thing is that these devices were only receiving a third of the current amount, which would go around $123.
The report includes information coming from a Samsung spokesman who explained that
“The amount of subsidies that will be provided is something that our company and mobile carriers decided together after a consultation.”
“Currently, the device market is generally in a difficult situation, so the subsidies were raised starting on April 1, try to make up for the damage caused by Samsung’s latest throttling issue.”
These changes may be Samsung’s way to try to make up for the impact of the throttling issue. However, the report also included a different opinion from an anonymous carrier representative who believes that:
“There is a view that the GOS issue adversely affects the sales of the S22, but there is no clear decline in terms of sales volume. There is demand for devices not only from those who play games, but also from those who do not play games. There has been controversy over the GOS, but there are two high-end smartphone brands ― Samsung’s Galaxy S series and Apple’s iPhone ― so we don’t see a clear sales decline of the Galaxy devices.”
We also received information from Eugene Investment & Securities analyst Lee Seung-woo who said that “Samsung’s mobile devices and network business is expected to post an operating profit of 4 trillion won in the first quarter, up 1.3 trillion won from the fourth quarter of 2021, due to the strong global smartphone market”.
However, he can’t be sure about the company’s future as “The GOS controversy left a big scar on the credibility of the Galaxy and Samsung brands.”
Samsung has also been spotted relaunching the Samsung Galaxy S20 FE in 2022. Yup, you got that right. A new Galaxy S20 FE 2022 has appeared on KT and LG Uplus on April 1, and no, it is not a joke. The new device is identical to the original Galaxy S20 FE 5G, but this model doesn’t come with an AKG headset in the box, and it now features a $575 price tag.
Whatever the case, Samsung and other smartphone companies should really stop advertising their phones as incredible gaming machines if they can’t live up to the challenge. Further, users should always be aware of what these “optimizing” (throttling) do, and they should also be able to disable them whenever they feel like it.