CheckMag | Samsung is recreating its mid-range Galaxy smartphone mess

The new Galaxy A series was easier to understand. Samsung used a double-digit model number with entry-level and budget models featuring a lower number while premium models have a higher number. According to Counterpoint Research, the new strategy was a success and saw Samsung record significant growth in sales. Sadly, Samsung has undone the cleanup it carried out in 2019, as over the past couple of years, the Galaxy A series has now been joined by new mid-range lines.

It began recreating the mess in 2019, shortly after announcing the new Galaxy A series. It started with the Galaxy M series, a line of smartphones that are sold exclusively online in select markets in Asia and Europe, with models such as the Galaxy M10 and Galaxy M20. Many more Galaxy M smartphones have been launched since then with some models even sharing similarities to existing Galaxy A smartphones.

Then there is the Galaxy F series which debuted in 2020 and is sold in India, China, and Bangladesh. The latest model in the series is the Galaxy F15, and it shares most of its features with the Galaxy A15 5G save for the latter having a smaller battery capacity. In April 2024, Samsung introduced a new series of smartphones, the Galaxy C series, complementing the existing Galaxy F and M series. Currently, the Galaxy C55 is the only device in this series and is exclusively sold in China. However, it will be introduced in India as the Galaxy F55 5G.

It is plain to see that the consolidation carried out in 2019 was pointless as Samsung has recreated the mess, and considering the fact that some of the models released across the various series have several similarities, it makes it even more pointless. While I understand that phone companies usually have different strategies for different markets, Samsung could have launched all of these phones under the Galaxy A series but could differentiate them with an additional alphabet that indicates a phone is exclusive to a certain market.

For example, instead of launching the Galaxy C55 and Galaxy F55, it could have launched them as the Galaxy A55c and Galaxy A55i where 'c' and 'i' stand for China and India respectively. The standard Galaxy A55 without any alphabet at the end would be the globally available model.

Samsung will most likely not do another cleanup as long as sales don't decline. It might even add a new series, further complicating things.