Samsung's latest earnings report has some pretty bad news about the Galaxy S9, but the company is bullish about new innovations on the way.
During its second-quarter earnings call on Monday (July 30), Samsung said that it's been experiencing "slow sales" at the top of the smartphone market, suggesting that its Galaxy S9 and Galaxy S9+ have not been selling nearly as well as the company had hoped.
In fact, some analysts say sales of the Galaxy S9 could be 20 percent lower than the Galaxy S8, according to MarketWatch.
In the second quarter, Samsung made an operating profit of 14.87 trillion won ($13.3 billion) on sales of 58.4 trillion won ($52.1 billion). However, revenue was down 4 percent year over year.
Trying to put a positive spin on things, the company turned its attention to the upcoming Galaxy Note 9. Samsung confirmed that the device, which it will unveil next week at a press event, will launch earlier than usual. Although it didn't provide an exact release date, Samsung did add that it will deliver "exceptional performance for a reasonable price."
MORE: Samsung Reveals Top Three Galaxy Note 9 Features Early
Looking ahead to next year, Samsung turned its attention to what we currently believe are known as the Galaxy S10 and the Galaxy X. In a statement, Samsung said that it "will continue to reinforce product competitiveness based on hardware leadership." It added that Samsung is planning on "adopting cutting-edge technology and new form factors."
While that's not much to go on, it seems to confirm that we're indeed getting some big updates next year.
According to countless reports, the Galaxy S10 will be a major upgrade over the Galaxy S9. And although we don't know much about it, other than Samsung's plans to bring a virtual fingerprint sensor to the device, all signs are now pointing to it being a major release.
Meanwhile, Samsung is said to be planning a foldable smartphone known as the Galaxy X for early this year. That device would obviously fit the bill of "new form factors" and would ostensibly get the company to its goal of offering "cutting-edge technology."
Interestingly, Samsung's statement also mentions 5G. The company is believed to be eyeing 5G technology for its future phones and might want to bring that to its handsets sooner rather than later. That should be a 2019 development.
For now, we're left with the Galaxy Note 9. But look for much more on the newer devices as we inch closer to their launch early next year.
