Samsung Galaxy S22 will be a smartphone for the few: here’s why

There won't be many Galaxy S22s on the market, or at least that's what sources with knowledge of Samsung's plans are convinced of: here's the situation

The latest rumors coming from the East about the Galaxy S22 are not entirely reassuring. The reason is that the top of the range "in charge" of the Galaxy series have certainly not shone in terms of sales, and from the chatter that comes from the well-informed shines a certain awareness on the part of Samsung.

With a hint of resignation, or maybe a healthy pragmatism. Yes, because the Galaxy S22 could be smartphones for a few because of the production cut for which they would have opted in Seoul. It wouldn't make sense to produce more smartphones than the ones the public is willing to buy, and if Samsung's market research indicates such a trend, then the company's choice is completely understandable. Or it's simply a choice forced by the crisis of the chips sprung from the pandemic that doesn't allow "grandiose" projects, rather to trim the few components that can be produced in this period.

Samsung modifies the production of Galaxy S

The latest information collected by The Elec reveal an absolutely unprecedented scenario. Samsung in fact would have decided, for the first time ever since the range includes three models, so from Galaxy S10 onwards, to allocate to a single variant half or even more of the total production planned for the entire series.

The ideal distribution would be one that sees each of the three models receive 33% of total production. Samsung, as is normal, distributes the production capacity on the model it considers to be the most popular. Well: for rumors, that will be Samsung Galaxy S22 "standard", that is the smallest and cheapest of the three.

Besides Galaxy S22 is indicated as even more compact than the current: the diagonal should decrease from 6.2 inches of Galaxy S21 to 6.1 inches of Galaxy S22. And it would be a real trend, because even for Galaxy S22+ should follow the same direction going from the current 6.7 inches to 6.6 inches in 2022.

Samsung evidently believes that the 6.1 inches are the perfect size: the total production of the Galaxy S22 series, as we said, should concern for a figure between 50 and 60% Galaxy S22 "standard", between 20 and 30% Galaxy S22 Ultra (which should absorb the customers Galaxy Note) while Galaxy S22+ would remain the remaining part.

To get an idea, at the time of planning the production of Galaxy S21, then last year, Samsung decided this distribution: 40% for Galaxy S21 and 30% each for Galaxy S21+ and Galaxy S21 Ultra.

Declining production forecasts

Of course the percentages may change in the course of the work once Samsung has sold enough units to understand which of the three is actually the most popular model. It should not be forgotten, for example, that the success of the two foldable Galaxy came almost unexpected even for Samsung. But now there is to plan the production and, according to the well-informed, in Seoul would have decided in this way.

As well as there is to plan how much of the production capacity to allocate to the series. And evidently Samsung, perhaps discouraged by the far from scintillating numbers of the current top of the range, does not seem to put much faith in the Galaxy S22: in total it will be produced, it is said, 20 million, while last year at this time it was decided to produce 26 million Galaxy S21.