Samsung Galaxy S5 has sold 4mn less than S4

It's no secret that everything hasn't been going swimmingly at Samsung in 2014, particularly given the firm's sterling performance in the mobile arena over the previous few years.

Last week we heard that Samsung is going to cut back smartphone production following the profits made on its devices falling to the lowest level in three years, and today we've heard news of a major exec reshuffle and jobs cuts.

And now the Wall Street Journal (via Engadget) is reporting that a big part of the problem is the failure of the flagship Galaxy S5, which hasn't sold as well as the Galaxy S4 did last year.

Indeed the Galaxy S5 has shifted four million less phones than the S4, with China seeing the biggest drop as sales were halved, and Xiaomi certainly hasn't helped Samsung's cause.

Worse still, Samsung anticipated another uptick in sales so increased production of the S5 by 20 per cent over its predecessor - so that adds up to a lot of phones sat in warehouses somewhere. And possibly some bargain Galaxy S5 prices come early next year as the S6 prepares for launch.

Earlier in the year it became clear the Galaxy S5 wasn't performing that well in the UK, when Uswitch.com's mobile tracker revealed that after an initial launch month sales spike, Samsung's flagship was failing to outsell the outgoing iPhone 5S and 5C. That really wasn't a good sign early on in the S5's life.