Galaxy S20 marketing plans in Japan quashed by Olympics delay

Samsung is supporting the International Olympic Committee’s decision to postpone the Tokyo 2020 games until next year, but that’s not to say it won’t suffer any losses in regards to its market influence in Japan. Samsung is a long-time Olympics partner, and according to a recent Reuters report citing an anonymous Samsung official, the company was keen on capitalizing on the hype leading up to the event to increase its smartphone market share in Japan and boost Galaxy S20 sales.

A lot of the momentum for smartphone demand in the lead-up to the Olympics will be gone, according to the source. The company already took the veil off the Galaxy S20+ 5G Olympics Edition in anticipation of the event, and the model is scheduled to ship in June via local carrier NTT Docomo. However, since the Tokyo 2020 games won’t take place this year, demand for the device – and presumably the standard Galaxy S20 models – will inevitably decrease.

Samsung to rethink its approach and focus on promoting the Galaxy S21 next year

Samsung’s marketing strategy in Japan is rather unique to the country. The ‘Samsung’ brand is seldom if ever seen; instead, the company is selling and promoting its products primarily under the ‘Galaxy’ brand. Samsung had gained a lot of momentum in Japan in the third quarter of 2019, managing to increase its market share from 2.4 percent to 6.7 percent year-on-year.

The Tokyo 2020 Olympics presented a great opportunity to further increase its brand recognition in the country. Now, former Samsung officials and analysts believe that the company will have to rethink its strategy and focus on promoting its 2021 flagship series (the Galaxy S21) before the event kicks off next year. Meanwhile, the Galaxy S20 lineup is underperforming, in large part due to the coronavirus pandemic and the economic hit that follows.