Samsung managing to sell a boatload of phones shouldn’t come as any surprise, but the company outdid itself in the first half of 2016. According to Strategy Analytics, the Galaxy S7 edge topped shipment charts with 13.3 million units. The Galaxy S7 was third overall with 11.8 million shipments.
Samsung crowded out the top three spots, with the entry-level Galaxy J2 2016 coming in at second place with 13 million shipments. That number speaks volumes of Samsung’s marketing might, as the Galaxy J2 2016 is basically made up of recycled hardware from 2012. Retailing for the equivalent of $150 in countries like India and China, the Galaxy J2 2016 offers a 5-inch 720p display, a Spreadtrum SC8830 SoC (with Cortex A7 cores!), 1.5GB RAM, paltry 8GB of storage, microSD slot, and a 2600mAh battery. Aggressive marketing combined with availability in tier 2 and tier 3 cities allowed Samsung to outdo much better alternatives from the likes of Lenovo, Xiaomi, Huawei, and others.
Anyway, the uptick in sales allowed Samsung to record $7.22 billion in profit, its highest in nearly two years. And it looks like the Galaxy Note 7 will continue the momentum heading into the latter half of the year.