Samsung's latest flagship lineup, the Galaxy S21 series, hasn't performed as per the company's expectations. Recent reports suggest that the company held a special review for its mobile business due to the lackluster Galaxy S21 sales. The news comes just days after we learned that Xiaomi overtook Samsung to become the #1 OEM in the European market.

According to The Elec, Samsung sold only 13.5 million units of the Galaxy S21 series in the first half of this year. In comparison, the company sold over 20 million units of the Galaxy S20 series during the same time last year and over 30 million units of older Galaxy S series phones the year before that. This, coupled with some supply chain management issues, prompted the company's top management to hold a special review of its mobile unit.

Sources familiar with the proceedings suggest that Samsung's lackluster 5G smartphone sales was also a reason behind the special review. The company was among the first to launch 5G smartphones back in 2019, but it has since fallen behind competitors in terms of market share. According to Strategy Analytics, Samsung ranked fourth in global 5G smartphone market share (12.5%), well behind Apple (29.8%), OPPO (15.8%), and Vivo (14.3%).

A separate report from Business Post further highlights how Samsung's plans to launch the Galaxy S21 series a month early and price it cheaper than the Galaxy S20 series haven't worked in favor of the company. Analysts speculate that consumer interest in the Galaxy S series has waned as other manufacturers have leveled up their products to a great extent. That's to be expected, as flagship phones from Chinese OEMs like Xiaomi now offer much better value than Samsung's flagship offerings. The Xiaomi Mi 11 Ultra, for instance, offers pretty much the same level of performance and features as the Galaxy S21 Ultra at a much more affordable price point.