We're about a month from the launch of Samsung's Galaxy S25 series. A new leak today revealed that the Galaxy S25 launch event may take place on January 22. The company held a meeting this week to finalize its strategy for the upcoming flagship lineup and the Galaxy Z foldable series that will be launched later next year.
While Samsung is cautiously optimistic that the Galaxy S25 will bring in marginally more sales than its predecessor, it's not too bullish on the Galaxy Z Flip 7's ability to significantly increase sales.
It may make fewer Galaxy Z Flip 7 units than its predecessor
Based on rumored targets it has provided supply chain partners, Samsung is going to produce 14.8 million, 6.6 million, and 16 million units of the Galaxy S25, Galaxy S25+, and Galaxy S25 Ultra respectively. It's not surprising that the Ultra is on top as this model has consistently been outselling its siblings and obviously has better margins for the company.
This suggests that Samsung expects to ship 37.4 million units of the Galaxy S25 series combined, a modest 10% gain over the 35 million target it had for the Galaxy S24. It's unclear whether that figure was hit at all, but Samsung did say earlier this year that the Galaxy S24 series had achieved “double-digit year-on-year growth in both shipments and revenue.”
On the other hand, it appears that Samsung isn't confident that the Galaxy Z Flip 7 would bring in more sales than its predecessor, as it has reportedly set a 3 million unit production target for the upcoming clamshell foldable. This is a big reduction from the 4.2 million unit target it's believed to have set for the Galaxy Z Flip 6 last year.
It would be surprising if this is indeed the case, given that last year's foldable wasn't a major upgrade, and you'd think a lot of people would have waited another year to upgrade so that they benefit from the significant improvements the Galaxy Z Flip 7 will bring, such as the larger cover display.
Perhaps this is the reason why Samsung is expected to launch a more affordable Galaxy Z Flip FE next year, in a bid to expand the overall shipments of its clamshell foldable.
Samsung can always ramp up production if the market response is more favorable, so it's not like the company is locked into these targets. It's possible that Samsung is looking to prevent an outcome where it just ends up with a lot of unsold inventory.
