Pre-sale to start from April 7

The official pre-sale of the Samsung Galaxy S8 started on April 7. Mobile carriers and flat-phone operators have made their subscription plan public by disclosing their pre-sale prices and making reservations. The industry expects to surpass Galaxy Note 7``s record sales of up to 400,000 units last year.

Samsung Electronics and three mobile carriers have announced on April 6 that Galaxy S8 pre-sale will be held from April 7 to April 17. The pre-sale buyers can start using the phone from April 18, which is three days earlier than the April 21, which is the official release date of Galaxy S8 in the domestic market.


The prices of the Galaxy S8 and S8 Plus are KRW 935,000 and KRW 990,000 won, respectively. The 128GB Galaxy S8 Plus with 6GB of RAM is priced at KRW 1,155,000. The Galaxy S8 comes in three colors: midnight black, orchid gray, and arctic silver. Galaxy S8 Plus comes in two colors: coral blue and orchid gray. The Galaxy S8 Plus with 6GB RAM is available in midnight black.

Samsung Electronics will provide KRW 99 000 worth Bluetooth speaker to people who pre-purchase Galaxy S8 or people who start using the phone by April 24 through event. In the case of purchasing premium Galaxy S8 plus, KRW 159 000 worth ‘DEX’ which enables to use smartphone as PC will be provided as present. If the Galaxy S8 is opened by the 31th of next month, Samsung will also provide benefits for one year use of ``Samsung Mobile Care``.

Each of the three mobile carriers also entered into a competition to attract subscribers by introducing a device replacement program and a credit card alliance. SK Telecom has released ``T Galaxy Club S8`` program with monthly subscription discount which is up to 50% at KRW 5,500 in the case of replacing Galaxy S8 with Galaxy S9 a year later. In addition, purchasing the ``T Samsung Card`` will allow a maximum discount of KRW 516,000 for two years.

KT introduced ``Galaxy S8 Changeup``, which will switch to the latest Galaxy S or Note series without paying up to 50% of the remaining installments after returning the device one year after purchase. The fee is KRW 3300 per month. Also, in the case of purchasing the phone by the premium super-installment Hyundai Card, users can get a discount of up to KRW 520,000 for two years. In the case of spending more than KRW 1.2 million per month by ``KT-K Bank Check Card`` or spending KRW 1 million or over per month by ``Olleh CEO Woori Card``, discount is provided up to KRW 720,000.

LG U Plus has set up a ``Used Phone Pricing Guarantee Program`` of KRW 7700 a month, which exempts up to 50% of installments when it returns after 18 months of purchase in the case of the Galaxy S8 buyer returns the phone after 12 months. The company has also introduced a ``U Plus Galaxy Club`` to buy a new Galaxy phone without paying any remaining installments.

Along with this, CJ HelloVision and SK Telink have also entered the Galaxy S8 pre-sale competition through direct online malls. Although, it has been unusual for the flat phones to start selling premiums at the same time as the three mobile carriers, recently the situation has changed. This is due to the fact that the interests of the manufacturers, which should increase sales volume, have been matched with those who are trying to increase their competitiveness with premium phones. Even when the LG G6 was released last month, there were also some mobile phone companies that introduced the G6 on the same day as three mobile carriers

By Jung Yoon Hee yuni@


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