The Galaxy S9 is an impressive phone, and it's hard to argue otherwise. It's got one of the best cameras on the market, a phenomenal set of hardware, and a slick design, but you can also say most of that about its predecessor. And, unfortunately for Samsung, lots of customers have noticed the similarities.
In South Korea, at least, Samsung only managed to sell about 70% of the total number of Galaxy S8 models they sold on the first day last year. Galaxy S9 sales in Samsung's home country totaled around 180,000 compared to 260,000 Galaxy S8 sales.
Obviously there are a ton of variables here, and the phone's official launch isn't until this coming Friday. At that point it will be available in more countries than just South Korea, which might see a more heated demand. With that being said, Android phones always tend to see cooled down sales when they don't have major new innovative features, and Samsung might have to deal with throughout 2018.
source: Yonhap News
Or at least allows us to remap the damn button. Perhaps lets us unlock the thing and root it? So many things that Samsung COULD do that they won’t. The s9 is an incremental update that has very little to recommend it (despite the near maniacal reviews for the “ooh, moved the fingerprint scanner” for those that apparently had hobbit hands) so why WOULD anyone get it? it’s more expensive than the s8. You have to rebuy all the accessories that you bought for the s8. It’s just an apple move that makes people upgrade for very little change but you have re-invest in all new accessories simply because, well, you do. They could have gotten a lot more people to buy the s9 if they made the device better and kept the exact same form factor so the same accessories could be used.
Maybe it’s time Samsung kills off Bixby…
I agree. I know it is suppose to do some great things with the phone but I honestly haven’t found anything that I have to do that requires Bixby. It’s more of a pain in the rear than anything since I keep accidentally hitting the stupid Bixby button instead of the volume