Samsung has 50 million unsold smartphones in stock

But the company severely misjudged demand for this year when it assessed the market in late 2021. Samsung was originally targeting over 300 million sales in 2022 and production of close to 330 million phones, an extremely aggressive goal set before Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and inflation soared across the globe.

It powered ahead with this objective, manufacturing around 20 million units per month in both January and February. But come March, Samsung started reigning itself in, and the number dropped to 10 million units by May. On top of this, the world’s number one smartphone manufacturer cut component orders from suppliers by 30% to 70% between April and May, another sign that it doesn’t expect things to improve anytime soon.

The brand could still have a strong end to the year

Even though things aren’t quite going to plan for Samsung, the second half of 2022 could still be strong for the company thanks to its revised production targets and the arrival of new Galaxy Z models.

The brand is likely to continue limiting its production until inventory levels have returned to a safe level. Some of the company’s Galaxy A models are among the world’s best-selling smartphones, so it shouldn’t have any trouble shifting units even if demand is a little lower than expected.

On the other end of the spectrum, Samsung is understood to be preparing for significant higher foldable smartphone demand in the coming months once the next-gen Galaxy Z Fold 4 and Galaxy Z Flip 4 make their debut.

Leaked renders of the two smartphones have revealed mostly unchanged designs. But that’s not necessarily a bad thing, since it’s largely expected to translate into price cuts across the board. How big those price cuts will be is unclear, but a $100 drop at minimum for the Galaxy Z Flip 4 seems incredibly likely. The larger Galaxy Z Fold 4, on the other hand, could start at $1600 — $200 cheaper than the Fold 3.