Samsung started selling the Galaxy S20 lineup in its home country of South Korea yesterday and the initial numbers reported in local media are disappointing. However, it’s not because the handset hasn’t been well received. The huge drop in sales compared to the Galaxy S10 is due to reasons that are not in Samsung’s control.

Local media reports from Korea suggest that the Galaxy S20 sales are 50 percent lower on their first day compared to the Galaxy S10 from a year ago. That’s despite the fact that the new lineup brings one of the most comprehensive camera upgrades to the lineup.

Fewer people are visiting retail stores due to infection fears

South Korea is dealing with the coronavirus outbreak on a large scale. This has seriously dampened consumer sentiment. The country actually has the highest number of confirmed cases outside China. 256 new cases were reported just this morning, pushing the total number of infected people to over 2,000. The Samsung Group recently announced that it would donate $24.6 million to help the government’s efforts to contain the outbreak.

According to the report, fewer people are visiting retail stores due to coronavirus infection fears. This has led to a decline in first-day sales for the Galaxy S20 lineup. Samsung has itself canceled many secondary events for the Galaxy S20 as a precaution so it hasn’t really been able to push as hard on marketing and promotion as it normally does.

It has sold an estimated 70,800 units combined of the Galaxy S20 lineup compared to the 140,000 Galaxy S10 units that were sold on the first day of the launch last year. The Galaxy Note 10 lineup did even better with 220,000 units sold on the first day. We would have likely seen a similar response for the Galaxy S20 had South Korea not been battling with the outbreak.

The Galaxy S20 sales could pick up down the line once the outbreak has been controlled. More customers would also look to purchase the handset online if they don’t want to risk going to a crowded store. Like many other companies, Samsung is just having to deal with the huge economic fallout caused by the virus.