Samsung expects to cut shipments of the Galaxy A23 5G by 70% due to undisclosed issue

A report by The Elec says that Samsung has sharply lowered its estimate of shipments this year for the mid-range Samsung Galaxy A23 5G. Between the 4G and 5G variants of the device, Samsung was expecting to ship 30 million units in 2023, or roughly 10% of the total number of smartphones the company is expected to deliver in 2022. However, an undisclosed issue with the phone related to the 50MP camera on the back of the device has led Samsung to cut deliveries of the Galaxy A23 5G.

Instead of shipping 12.6 million units of the Galaxy A23 5G this year, Sammy is now planning to put less than 4 million units in transit. That works out to nearly a 70% reduction in shipments of this model. The 4G version of the phone, which was introduced earlier this year, should see no change to the 17.1 million units Samsung said that it would deliver in 2022. The Galaxy A23 5G was released in the second half of this year.

Samsung has never explained what the issue was with the Galaxy A23 5G. The manufacturer changed some of its suppliers for the phone and Sunny Optical was selected to provide the 50MP primary camera that features optical image stabilization (OIS). Partron supplied the 4G version of the phone with the same parts. To be clear, Samsung is not blaming Sunny Optical for what has transpired.

An unrevealed problem caused other components found on the phone, like the camera, to work poorly. After investigating the problem for a month during which it spoke with its suppliers, Samsung told Sunny Optical that while it was in the clear, the China-based supplier should have reacted quicker.

Even though Samsung did eventually discover what the problem was, it decided to reduce shipments of the phone because of the headache that the 5G model caused. Next year, Samsung plans on producing only 5 million units of the phone.

The Galaxy A23 5G features a 6.6-inch LCD display with a resolution of 1080 x 2400. Under the hood is the 6nm Snapdragon 695, a mid-range chipset designed by Qualcomm. The phone is equipped with 4GB of memory, 64 GB of storage, and a microSD slot for those needing additional storage.

Besides the 50MP primary camera with OIS, the array on the back includes a 5MP ultra-wide camera, a 2MP Macro camera for extreme close-ups, and a 2MP depth sensor. In front, you'll find an 8MP camera for selfies and video chats. The 5000mAh battery keeping the lights on charges at 25W. And this phone does sport a 3.5mm earphone jack.

In the U.S., the Galaxy A23 5G is available from AT&T, T-Mobile, Metro by T-Mobile, Cricket and Boost Mobile. StraightTalk has the phone available for $149.99 which is half of the $299.99 manufacturer's suggested retail price.