The lack of updated Galaxy smartphones in the market will give Samsung room to run with its new S7 and S7 edge smartphones, Kantar Worldpanel said in a new report.
According to Kantar’s analysis, the recent slowdown of the consumer upgrade cycle presents Samsung with a huge opening to push its new flagship devices to fill the gap.
Between February 2015 and January 2016, Kantar found that only about a quarter of Samsung smartphones had been upgraded. Of those with upgraded devices, nearly 45 percent had a Galaxy S5, Note 4 or Note 5. Just over 26 percent had the Galaxy S6.
Among Samsung’s installed base, Kantar found the Galaxy S5 (21.5 percent) and the three-year-old Galaxy S4 (14.2 percent) were the most popular.
“This creates a huge opportunity for Samsung to persuade consumers it is time to upgrade to the new devices,” Kantar wrote in its analysis. “Only 3.6% of current Galaxy S6 owners said they are planning to upgrade their smartphone in the next 12 months. This should not worry Samsung, however, as we have shown that a significant opportunity remains among owners of older phones, making them a much easier target for the Korean brand.”
According to Kantar Worldpanel, Samsung could help induce consumers to snag the S7 and S7 edge by expanding its new device upgrade program to the United States.
First introduced in the United Kingdom a few days ago, Samsung confirmed it plans to expand the Samsung Upgrade program to South Korea later this week.
The program, which is similar to the one launched by Apple in September, allows consumers on a 24-month installment agreement to pay an extra fee for the opportunity to trade in their existing device for the latest Samsung smartphone after one year.
