Samsung Electronics is expected to ship out a total of 20 million Galaxy S10 series phones within the first half of this year, industry sources said Wednesday. If they are correct, the series will achieve a slightly better showing than its predecessor.

The 10th-anniversary Galaxy S10 phones, which went on sale throughout the world Friday, are expected to achieve sales targets of 10 million for the first quarter and another 10 million for the April-June period, according to Samsung’s parts suppliers. 

If 20 million phones are shipped out by June as hoped, shipments of Galaxy S10 edition phones will outnumber those of the series’ predecessor last year. Shipments of Galaxy S9 phones stood at 19.2 million for the first half of 2018 and 35 million for the whole year.

Owing to positive market reactions to the latest Samsung phones, including record-high preorders in the United States, market watchers predict that total shipments of the 10th edition could amount to around 40 million for the entire year.

On the first day of preorders in Korea, around 180,000 Galaxy phones were sold -- up 120 percent from the corresponding figure for the models’ predecessors.

“Considering that the smartphone market is undergoing a slump, the Galaxy S10 is faring well,” said an industry official. “However, it is unavoidable that demand will slow in the second half.”

Some in the parts industry forecast 35 million to 38 million Galaxy S10 phones would be shipped out this year.

Among the flagship Galaxy S phones, the seventh-edition phones hold the sales record, having posted 48.7 million in shipments in 2016. In contrast, the eighth and ninth editions fell short of the 40 million mark.

Samsung’s smartphone division is making all-out efforts to make the Galaxy S10 series a success after posting 10.1 trillion won in operating profit last year due to lower-than-expected sales of the Galaxy S9 series. In 2017, Samsung brought in 11.8 trillion won with the S8.

By Song Su-hyun (song@heraldcorp.com)