Kiwis not exactly fizzing for Samsung S20

The release of the latest Samsung handset, the Galaxy S20, may be met with a lukewarm response, according to new research from the product comparison site, PriceSpy.

According to historical click data from PriceSpy, New Zealand consumers were in the same mind as the rest of the world last year, with Samsung taking the overall number one mobile phone brand spot, beating out both Apple and Huawei.

However, the insights also revealed consumer interest for Samsung's latest handsets in the Galaxy S range is dropping, with the Samsung Galaxy S8, which launched in 2017, outperforming the newer S10 and S9 at launch.

The research also found many shoppers were waiting at least three months for the price of the phones to drop before buying.

"With a new handset release on the horizon for Samsung, many will be eagerly waiting to find out what innovative features it has come up with for its Samsung Galaxy S20, yet our insights suggest new features alone may not be enough to entice consumers to actually purchase this 'must-have' gadget." PriceSpy NZ country manager Liisa Matinvesi-Bassett says.

According to PriceSpy's popularity index, which automatically ranks all 108,000 products listed on the website based on what consumers are clicking on, the older Samsung Galaxy S8 secured a much higher ranking position at launch compared to the more recent S9 and S10.

"Our data highlights just how popular the Samsung Galaxy S8 was at launch, ranking 27th on our popularity index two days after it was released for pre-order," Matinvesi-Bassett adds.

"The same cannot be said for the S9 and S10. Unlike their predecessor, which regularly claimed the number one position on our popularity index, neither of the two new models ever made it to the overall top spot. In fact, it wasn't until at least three months after the Samsung Galaxy S10 first launched for pre-order that it made it to the third position on our popularity index.

"Based on the last three handset releases from Samsung for the Galaxy S range, we can see a bit of a trend emerging. Previously, we would normally expect to see a flagship phone such as the S10 quickly rise up the PriceSpy popularity index and claim a top-three spot shortly after release.

However, as Apple has seen with its last few handset releases, the 'queuing round the block' fervour of excitement no longer seems to be there for top-of-the-line handsets.

Matinvesi-Basset says key factors include price creep and consumers' feature fatigue.

She points out that consumers have come to realise that by waiting around three months, they will save themselves hundreds of dollars as the prices inevitably begin to fall.