Has Samsung's Galaxy S6 Edge been too successful?

Samsung's recently announced earnings for its mobile device line continued a disappointing trend of decreased profits that has now gone on for seven consecutive quarters. While much of the decline has centered around the company's disappointing sales of midrange devices, the blame has been on its flagship Galaxy S6 line.

However, by most measures, the Galaxy S6 and S6 Edge have been massively successful. According to BNP Paribas analysts Peter Yu and Jay Han, Samsung's Galaxy 6 line has sold between 10 and 20 percent more units than the Galaxy S5. In addition, while most Samsung flagship phones have seen the majority of sales drop significantly after launch, the analysts said that the S6 line has had surprising staying power, and sales are expected to have a much fatter tail than its predecessors.

So why are so many down on the Galaxy S6 line? In part it has to do with lost opportunity. At launch, the company expected that demand ratio for its Galaxy S6 would be roughly 4:1 versus its pricier cousin, the curved-screen Galaxy S6 Edge. Instead, according to the Wall Street Journal, the company saw demand for the devices to be almost equal. Samsung has been unable to keep up with demand for the Galaxy S6 Edge on back of supply constraints related to production of the curved screen. Meanwhile, sales of the Galaxy S6 have been slower, leading to a number of the smartphones remaining on store shelves.

Samsung noted in May that it had successfully been able to overcome its Edge supply issues and would be able to meet demand by the end of June.

Combined with the expected pent-up demand for the device, these point to an opportunity for accessory makers who can grab valuable sales opportunity as buyers will likely be willing to pay a small premium for accessories like cases.