Concerns that sales of Samsung’s flagship smartphone, the Galaxy S4, may fall short of expectations caused Samsung shares to fall more than 6 percent on Friday.
Samsung’s market capitalization fell $12.4 billion to $187.8 billion following a research note from J.P. Morgan warning investors that Galaxy S4 sales in the third quarter could fall short of expectations,MarketWatch reported on Friday. It was said that monthly orders of Samsung’s latest flagship smartphone were cut by as much as 30 percent, which could negatively affect the South Korean company’s margins.
The losses drew immediate comparisons to Apple, which saw its stock drop starting in late 2012. The losses have been connected to investors fears, founded or unfounded, that the growth of the iPhone was beginning to slow.
Some industry observers believe the high-end smartphone segment could be reaching saturation. Apple’s iPhone 5, and Samsung’s Galaxy S4 both compete in that market.
Samsung had announced in May that it had sold 10 million units of its Galaxy S4 handsets worldwide in the first month of availability. In contrast, Apple sold 5 million units of its flagship iPhone 5 in the first three days following its release in September of 2012.
