The Galaxy S5, Samsung's flagship smartphone, sold 10 million units in only 25 days, and 11 million units after one month.

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That seems like great news. Still, Samsung for the first time reported its lowest quarterly sales this first quarter, these numbers don't appear to be staggeringly impressive.

And, by the way, arch rival Apple, Inc. sold nine million iPhone 5S and 5C smartphones in just three days in September 2013, and in only 11 markets. In comparison, the 5S flooded the world in 150 countries during its debut last April 11.

The larger view is that cheaper or low-end smartphones, mostly made in China, are the fastest growing smartphone series right now.

Low-ends keep eating into Samsung's market and could compel Apple to consider competing in the low-end.

It also doesn't help Samsung that worldwide sales of smartphones are losing steam in an increasingly saturated market.

These negatives have hurt Samsung badly. Samsung's mobile-phone business recorded its lowest sales in five quarters during Q1 of this year.

Its share of the worldwide smartphone market dropped for the first time in four years, said research firm Strategy Analytics.

Samsung has a lot riding on an enduring success for the Galaxy 5S. On a positive note, it looks certain the Galaxy S5 will easily beat the sales of its predecessors, the Galaxy S4 and the Galaxy S3.

The Galaxy S4 sold over 40 million units while sales for the Galaxy S3 came to some 60 million units.

Samsung could take heart in the fact that the Galaxy S5 is the fastest phone in its history to reach 10 million units sold.

In comparison, the Galaxy S4 took 27 days to reach 10 million last year while the Galaxy S3 achieved the feat in 50 days. The S4 sold 10 million handsets during its first month of availability in 2013.

But the damper in this rosy picture is the relentless flood of low-cost smartphones is that its causing retail prices to drop in the mid-range category.

The smaller high-end segment, which is the hunting ground for the Galaxy S5, is becoming increasingly saturated because users tend to hang on to their pricier smartphones much longer.

Then there's those relentless lawsuits brought against Samsung by Apple that is causing Samsung millions of dollars in penalties, not to mention bad publicity.

Samsung said sales were especially good in developed markets such as the US, Germany and Australia.

It said the rosy retail figures were due to better carrier agreements and to flooding more countries with the smartphone.