Samsung's high-end smartphones account for just 29% of its sales, marking an all-time low

Just two days before the official release of the Samsung Galaxy S8, a new report claims that Samsung's high-end devices aren't doing as well as they did before. According to the Korean media The Investor, Samsung's top-of-the-line handsets account for just 29% of the company's mobile sales in the first quarter of 2017.

The data is compiled by Hana Financial Investment and it marks the first time sales of the Galaxy S and Note series have fallen under 30% of the company's total. The sales of high-end devices once reached 75%, when the Galaxy S4 was released in 2013, and it's been steadily declining ever since, falling under 40% in 2015.

While this data might seem like bad news for Samsung, it actually makes perfect sense. The Galaxy Note 7 recall eliminated one of the company's flagship devices, which in turn probably resulted in less top-of-the-line devices sold. And with the Galaxy S8 coming in the matter of days, consumers are more likely to wait for the new phone. Even if end-users still want to buy a Galaxy S7 or Galaxy S7 edge, their prices will probably drop after the new phone sees the light of day.

When it comes to average sales prices for Samsung's entire phone catalog, its devices were sold at $232 globally in 2016. This is 19.7% lower than 2015's $289 mark, according to Strategy Analytics. For comparison, Apple's average sales price for 2016 was $645, which is a 7% increase from 2015. The huge difference in average prices is not surprising either, though, considering that Apple doesn't manufacture mid-range or entry-level smartphones.

source: TheInvestor via SamMobile