Last month, news of a factory fire at one of Samsung’s partner factories was said to affect initial availability of the Galaxy S5. Samsung mentioned that the fire would not cause a delay in production by a huge margin, but it looks like there is another factor that might hinder the Galaxy S5 manufacturing. The South Korean manufacturer is said to be facing production issues with the 16 MP ISOCELL camera sensor. The issue is not with the sensor as such, but the coating process for the lens module. The result is a low yield for the sensor which in turn will affect overall volume of the Galaxy S5.
Samsung is said to be making headway in resolving the issue, but that it would not be able to meet its initial estimates of 5 to 7 million units. The revised outlook for the Galaxy S5 is between 4 to 5 million units. Samsung is also said to be considering launching the Galaxy S5 before April 5th in South Korea to work around the carrier ban, which goes into effect early next month. It is unclear as to whether the manufacturer will have enough units available in time.
