Samsung plans to produce about 290 million smartphones in 2023
The COVID-19 pandemic, inflation, supply chain issues, and a global economic downturn have slashed demand for smartphones, forcing Samsung to recalibrate its plans for this year. From the original expected 300 million units to 260 million units, even if it can be finally realized, it will be lower than the shipments in 2021 (about 270 million units).
According to The Elec, Samsung plans to produce 290.68 million smartphones in 2023, a decrease of about 13% from the original target of 334.2 million this year. At the same time, Samsung’s target shipments in 2023 are about 270 million units, slightly higher than this year’s adjusted target and similar to 2021. Mobile phone manufacturers generally set the production volume to be about 10% higher than the shipment volume, and this part will be used as necessary inventory or reserved for promotion.
Of the approximately 290 million smartphones next year, the Galaxy S23 series will account for 32.63 million units, which is close to the target of 32.9 million units set by the Galaxy S22 series. About 45%, or 14.74 million, are Galaxy S23 Ultra; about 38%, or 12.47 million, are Galaxy S23; and about 17%, or 5.42 million, are Galaxy S23+.
In addition, Samsung plans to produce 6.86 million Galaxy Z Flip 5s and 3.54 million Galaxy Z Fold 5s. The two folding-screen smartphones totaled 10.4 million units, which is 6% higher than the combined 9.8 million units of the Galaxy Z Flip 4 (6.9 million units) and Galaxy Z Fold 4 (2.9 million units) this year. Shipments of the Galaxy Z Flip 4 are rumored to be lower than expected, so Samsung’s target for the Galaxy Z Flip 5 has become conservative.
The production target of the Galaxy S23 series and Galaxy Z5 series is about 60.46 million units, accounting for 21% of the total production, slightly higher than the 20% of high-end models this year. Of the remainder, the Galaxy A series accounted for 215.65 million units, accounting for 74% of Samsung’s total target production, while the Galaxy M series accounted for 9.77 million units.
