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Galaxy S23 sales are up 50% over S22: Here's why it's worth buying

Samsung's flagship phones are seeing greater traction than their predecessors ever did. And the best-seller makes ultra sense.
Written by Cho Mu-Hyun, Contributing Writer
Person holding the Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra between leaves.
June Wan/ZDNET

Samsung on Thursday shared that the unit sales for the Galaxy S23 series was 50% higher than its predecessor in Europe, India, and the Middle East over the same time period. In fact, the South Korean tech giant says its latest flagship smartphones, which hit store shelves earlier this year, have been performing better than the Galaxy S22 series across all regions. 

Also: Best Samsung phones you can buy

Out of the three models in the S23 series, the Galaxy S23 Ultra was the most popular, accounting for approximately 60% of global unit sales. Galaxy S23 Plus and Galaxy S23 each accounted for around 20%, Samsung said.

The numbers, believe it or not, are justifiable. Out of the three Galaxy S models this year, the Ultra saw the most significant upgrades, with a new 200-megapixel camera as its headline act. From ZDNET's testing, the premium smartphone delivered -- both in distant capturing and low-light photography. The Ultra and Plus model has also gotten a base storage bump to 256GB, doubling the size of last year's S22 series.

Review: Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra: Best smartphone of the year (so far)

As for the smallest (and most affordable) Galaxy S23, while it costs the same as its predecessor, the handset now features a Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 chipset that's been optimized specifically for Galaxy smartphones. That means greater performance and efficiency and noticeably better battery life.

During Unpacked in February, Samsung's Mobile Experience president TM Roh told reporters that the company was aiming for double-digit growth in terms of sales for the S23 compared to its predecessor. From the looks of it, the latest flagships are on track to do just that. 

And it will only help the cause when the Galaxy S23 series starts to go on sale in Japan on April 20 and launch in Africa and Western Asia soon after, completing the global launch of the Samsung smartphones.

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