Following a forecast from J.P. Morgan that the sales of the Galaxy S4 will most likely disappoint and will result in lower profits for the smartphone manufacturer, Samsung's shares fell by 6.2 percent, Friday, translating to a $12.4 billion drop in market capitalization.
The decline in shares is the biggest drop so far since August 27, 2012. Samsung also registered the most significant descent in the local index that only suffered a 1.8 percent fall. The market capitalization of Samsung now stands at $187.8 billion.
"Our supply chain checks show monthly orders have been cut 20%-30% to 7 to 8 million units (from 10 million) starting July," shared J.P. Morgan analyst J.J. Park in an interview with The Wall Street Journal.
Samsung reported that it had shipped 10 million units of its flagship smartphone during its first month of sales. Analysts adjusted their forecast for S4 sales to about 20 million units by the second quarter and about 30 million by the third quarter of 2013. In comparison, Apple shipped about 37.4 million units of the iPhone in the first fiscal quarter.
The drop in Samsung shares is reminiscent of what happened to Apple in the last quarter of 2012 through early 2013 when investors were also worried with the performance of the iPhone in the market.
A report on Apple Insider cited the opinion of market watchers that the market segment where both the Samsung S4 and iPhone 5 compete is now saturated.
Samsung's move to introduce variants of the Galaxy S4 such as the S4 Mini, S4 Active, and the S4 Mega might have also motivated consumers to hold on and wait before buying a new handset, affecting the sales of the flagship smartphone.
"Sales of high-end handsets are lagging behind expectations, while low- to mid-end handsets are selling briskly worldwide. As the portion of the low- to mid-range handsets is expected to increase in Samsung's overall mobile phone business, this has also sparked concerns about thinning margins and lower growth," said Shinhan Investment Corp. analyst Kim Young-chan in an interview with Reuters.
Meanwhile, Apple is expected to introduce a more affordable iPhone in 2013 to cater to customers who do not want a two-year contract and subsidized handsets, to boost the sales figures of iPhone. There are also reports that the iPhone maker will introduce a trade-in program for older versions of the handsets.
Is the slowdown indicative of technology fatigue among consumers due to constant handset refreshes?
