Handsets

Official: Samsung Galaxy S4 sells 10 million devices making it the quickest selling Android ever

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Samsung Galaxy S4 launch New York

It was estimated last week but now it’s official: the Samsung Galaxy S4 has hit 10 million in global sales. The device barely went on sale last month in more than 60 countries around the world, and 327 operators (carriers). For those keeping score, this makes the GS4 the fastest selling Android device in history.

By comparison, it took the Samsung Galaxy S3 almost 50 days to reach the same number, Samsung Galaxy S2 5 months, and the original Samsung Galaxy S almost 7 months to hit 10 million in sales. JK Shin is on a run away train called the Galaxy S Express and can’t nobody stop him.

Chris Chavez
I've been obsessed with consumer technology for about as long as I can remember, be it video games, photography, or mobile devices. If you can plug it in, I have to own it. Preparing for the day when Android finally becomes self-aware and I get to welcome our new robot overlords.

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65 Comments

  1. On a “rain” away train Chris

    1. maybe he’s slipping ?

      1. I think he uses the same spell check as Quentyn ;)

      2. probably because there’s no friction between the tracks and the wheels 0.o

    2. Man, you guys are on it. Fixed :)

  2. I have a GS4 but I thought they would sell many more based on reviews and heavy advertising. After all, doesn’t the typical iPhone sell this many or more on initial release weekend?

    Ian B

    1. Samsung has strong competition in the Android market while Apple has no competition in the iOS. You can’t compare the two.

      1. Actually you can easily compare the two because they are both smart phones and the consumer can choose between iOS or android whenever they want a new phone. The galaxy series of phone is the most popular in the android world, and the iPhone is the most popular in the iOS world. So yes they can be compared.

        1. iPhone is the ONLY one in the iOS world…there is NO choice in iOS world…so you CAN’T compare them.

          1. SERIOUSLY!

        2. iphone is the ONLY phone on ios.

          1. Thanks god!

        3. Dude you just proved the Walkers point… You choose between iOS or Android, ok you pick iOS, you get a IPHONE!!! You pick Android… do I get the S4, the One, Droid, Nexus?

      2. man, sammy has no competition in android. they own 95% of it. The rest of the 5% you can bunch up all the gazillion other androids.

      3. its a common comparison because, let’s face it, the Samsung Galaxy line has become the average uneducated consumer face of android, to do the most competitive advertising.

    2. Apple’s initial weekend sale is a big number because they make an event of it and the Apple fans like to wait in line and get it immediately. The sales down the line are not as impressive and Apple doesn’t bother making any other press releases aside from that initial weekend.

  3. Amazing how quickly android has grown. I am not quite familiar with the numbers and figures, but didn’t the iPhone 5 sell like 25-30million in the fourth quarter 2012. Guess it is no question that the S4 will be the top selling phone for this quarter, but I wonder how many they will sell as time progresses.

    1. The entire iPhone line sold 37.4 million. But that includes the 4S and 4.

  4. Now if we only knew how many were actually sold to end users ;-)
    http://mobile.theverge.com/2013/5/22/4357732/samsung-galaxy-s4-hits-10-million-units-shipped

    1. No mobile company knows how many of their phones are sold to the end user.

      1. You might want to read this: http://m.electronista.com/articles/13/03/11/actual.use.studies.show.lopsided.ios.influence/

        Android’s marketshare numbers are inflated because they include sales to retailers, which is why they continue to get smoked in real life usage stats. Kinda hard to measure web usage when so many devices are sitting on shelves not being used, don’t ya think??? :-)

        1. Translation : trolololololol.

          1. Translation: I lack the intelligence to counter his points

          2. Translation: Insulting people make me feel better of myself and my points are so out of this world I have no other choice but to troll trololol . :D

          3. *still waiting on a valid rebuttal*

          4. Feel No need to explain what you are doing here, ;) have a good day and be nice ok? ;) !

          5. Translation: I have no valid rebuttal

          6. ;) have a good day!

    2. Well, at least the “but…but…they aren’t “sold”!!” BS makes you idiot trolls easy to spot.

      Anyone who seriously thinks that makes one iota of difference for this device is a complete and utter f*cking moron.

      Yeah. We’ve got you pegged. Back under your bridge!

      1. Truth hurts ;-)

        1. Sorry to hear that. Hopefully the pain will fade quickly while your tolerance for truth increases.

          Eventually, you may even be capable of posting truth yourself!

          But don’t rush it. Baby steps, little troll…baby steps.

          1. Aah the games you pretend iPhone users play: http://www.zdnet.com/blog/mobile-news/samsung-comes-clean-galaxy-tab-numbers-not-consumer-sales/775

            Like I said, the truth hurts ;-)

          2. See, the sad thing is, you know better. I can’t honestly believe that a fellow human being is that utterly devoid of the ability to apply basic logic.

            10 million units of a high-demand product, 1 month into sales=guaranteed sales numbers.

            10 million units of a low demand product about to be discontinued: Sure, you can quibble over how many actually get sold because the likelihood of stock remaining on the shelves/unsold/returned is probably quite high.

            It’s sad because while there is really no way you don’t “get” that, you vomit this “”doesn’t equal sales” line every chance you get because your own emotional bias won’t let you be rational. Religion tends to do that to people. Find another one.

            Have a great day, Sir!

          3. Never said there wasn’t demand for the product. Hey listen, there’s always gonna be a market for pretenders. Fake Rolexes, Guccis and Luis Vuttons are sold all the time. However, by including sell-in numbers with sell-thru numbers, Shamsung is trying to give the impression to the incurably ignorant that there is far more consumer demand for their product than there actually is. When Apple announces that they sold 37 million iPhones, it means 37 million END USERS actually pulled out their wallets and purchased them. This is about the only thing Apple does that Shamsung DOESN’T copy, and until they do, you’ll have people like me blowing thru their utter BS…

            You have a great day! :-)

    3. trololololol back on the troll game ;)

  5. Glad to hear it that through Samsung, Android is growing at a fast rate.

  6. Keep in mind, these are not “activations” to the end customer. These numbers include devices sold to carriers, distributors, and vendors. they have not necessary sold to customers who will use the devices

    1. Yes but they order based on demand or forecasts. Maybe a phone ‘sold’ this quarter will be ‘activated’ next quarter but who really cares…

      1. Yep, plus they are not comparing these stats with another company’s phone. but with previous galaxy flagship phones. So it does not matter if they are activated or not. All they want to tell is that S4 is selling two time faster then S3 was. :)

    2. Doesn’t matter at all at who they are sold…

      EVERY company can only post business to business sales…

    3. …your point? It’s not like these are going to remain sitting on shelves or get sent back tot he manufacturer, is it?

      No?

      Then please stop with the “not really sold” BS. It only matters when talking about situations like the HTC First…where a large amount of shipped product remains (and likely will remain) outside of the hands of any user and might indeed end up getting shipped back to HTC.

  7. yes 10 million setting on salves and returned marketing paid articles

    1. Exactly…

  8. I don’t really know where else to post this. I have a serious question for anyone that is willing to help.

    I have been with HTC ever since I got my first smartphone. I have Verizon. I had the original Droid Incredible, then the Thunderbolt, and now the Rezound. I also bought a white EVO 4G LTE as a media device. I’m really stuck right now. I was hoping Verizon would announce the HTC One at their CTIA or whatever event today.

    I’m starting to lean towards the GS4. It’s got a 5 inch 1080p screen (I vowed for my next phone to be at least 4.7-5″ screen size) and the best of the best specs. It doesn’t have those front facing speakers, but I have no clue if anything HTC is even coming out on Verizon anytime soon. Should I get the S4 now, while I can? Or should I wait a month?

    P.S. I only really have until the end of June to make a choice, I am moving out of state so yeah.

    1. Do they not have phones in this “out of state” you speak of?

      Wait for the note 3.

      1. They do, but I need to upgrade before I move. I’m on Verizon on a family plan, and I would be using my Grandma’s upgrade, and transferring her phone to my number, then cancel her smartphone plan, if that makes sense?

        I also don’t want a Note. The Note is a great phone, but it’s too big for me, and I don’t need an S-Pen. Also, the Note won’t come out until fall!

        1. Ah, hey if you just want to use your verizon upgrade before you switch, the Iphone 5 is still selling for quite a bit. Check the S4 vs. iphone 5 prices and see which will get you more profit on ebay. It might be the iphone 5. I did that last month. Paid $250 after taxes and shipping from Verizon and sold it on ebay for 700+.

          1. Yeah, that’s one option. But I think I would rather upgrade myself, instead of buy a phone and sell it, you know?

            Right now, it seems HTC isn’t gonna have anything, so I may get the S4 this weekend.

    2. HTC is overrated. Go with the solid S4. Note 2 and 3 (soon) if you want an even larger screen and the s-pen.

      1. No, HTC is under appreciated. And why shouldn’t they be – they’ve suffered from horrible marketing and bad corporate vision. But the devices themselves rock. And the build quality is unmatched among mobile devices. Solid like plastic just can’t be. Plus, if you’re not a fan of vanilla Android or custom ROM’s (I’m a huge fan myself), Sense is the best of all the OEM wrappers (always has been). Give me an HTC Nexus and I’d be very happy.

    3. I would get the S4. it may be awhile before the HTC 1 comes to Verizon, if it ever does. my personal prediction is that there will be a semi-upgraded variant released to the carrier

      1. Yeah, and I feel like it would take a few months for HTC to come. I think I’m gonna go S4. I’m kind of nervous :O

  9. Samsung’s Galaxy brand is like a giant wheel rolling down a steep mountain. It seems to only go faster and faster. Good luck to those trying to stop it.

  10. Suck on that Tim Cook

    1. You’re a real lame android fan. “Suck on that Tik Cook, it only took the iPhone 5 a few days to reach that number.”

      1. I couldn’t care less if 5 billions iphoneys sold in 1 day. Seeing the fact that Samsung has sold this many must make Tim Cook & his henchmen froth at the mouth.

      2. False.

        Opening weekend, iPhone 5 sold 5 million units world wide, not 10. They didn’t release the figures for the first month, but considering they sold 37.4 million iPhones in that quarter (and that’s ALL iPhones, including the 4 and 4S), I’d guess that the bulk of that first month’s sales was opening weekend. After that, it likely fell flat relative to the first 3 days, which is probably why they didn’t report that particular number.

        In the USA, their largest market, carriers reportedly sold nearly the same number of 4 and 4S, which combined amounted to a bit over half of all iPhone sales. In the UK, the 4S was outselling 5 by a large margin. Breaking down that 37.4 million and considering what the other models sold, I’d venture to guess they didn’t quite hit 10 million in the first month.

        Or maybe they did? I don’t know. You don’t know. And who really cares? If it’s a race, it was a close one that first month. The bigger story is both are doing very, very well for themselves.

        But pulling random “facts” out of mid-air, even in response to a fanboy? Not exactly raising the bar, there.

  11. What I wanna know is when I can get my hands on unlocked 32/64GB versions of the S4.

  12. I prefer the GS4 to the HTC One (although I own neither) but I do wonder how much of this is down to the GS4’s very broad availability.

    It would be interesting to see how many GS4s vs HTC One’s were sold at say AT&T or across all carriers that offer both phones to see how many people who actually have a choice of both phones are choosing the GS4.

  13. Where are the 32GB versions in America??? Come on carriers/Samsung, this is bullshit!

  14. Good on Samsung, but a lot of people will inevitably sell their Galaxy S4 when the next iPhone is released. It always happens, but I am sure the opposite happens with the Galaxy line as well.

  15. So if this is the fastest selling Android phone, what is the fastest selling phone of all time?

  16. Well, since Samsung sells directly to carriers and not to the general public the 10M sold stands. It’s the same practice every mobile company uses regardless if an article says shipped or sold.

  17. your username is very misleading bro

  18. I finally switched from Apple to Android today and picked up an S4. I will say it hasn’t been easy today, but I am pretty happy with the phone so far.

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