The Samsung Galaxy S8 and S8 Plus, which are planned to be launched on April 21, are in high demand. Domestic pre-sale which began on April 7, have reached more than 720,000 units within 6 days until April 12, and overseas sales are gaining popularity beyond the previous Galaxy S7. Samsung Electronics has been attracting interest in bringing back the brand image that fell to the end of last year`s Galaxy Note 7 discontinuance and informing the global market of Samsung Electronics` soundness.

Koh Dong-jin, president of Mobile communication of Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd in ‘Media Day’ at Seocho building on April 13, mentioned ‘We are confident that the Galaxy S8 and S8 Plus have the highest safety and quality among the previous Galaxy smartphones. Galaxy S8 will help to gain customer trust and is opportunity for new start.’

The media day began with a figure of 728,000. This is the figure that Galaxy S8 • S8 Plus sold in Korea by April 12. The existing Galaxy Note 7 has the largest number of pre sale in the past with 400,000 units and Galaxy S8 surpassed that figure in just two days, with 550,000 units pre-sale. Samsung Electronics has set a target of 1 million units of pre-sale, which will be end on April 17. Not only domestic sales, but also overseas sales, such as the US, exceed expectations. President Koh said, ‘Although I cannot reveal the specific numbers, the atmosphere of pre-sale in the US and overseas is much better than the previous version (Galaxy7)’.

The Galaxy S8 features an infinite display that minimizes the bezel and eliminates the home button, and features the Bixby, Artificial Intelligence (AI) service. `Bixby` will be available at the same time as the phone will be launched on April 21 and Korean language voice support will be available from May 1. Securities analysts estimate that the Galaxy S8 sales volume will reach 60 million units this year, surpassing the previous Galaxy S7 record of 49 million units sold last year.

It is safety that emphasized especially by President Koh on this day. The Galaxy S8 is the company`s first product since last year`s Galaxy Note 7 discontinuance. President Koh stated, ‘The Galaxy S8 applied multiple safety designs and eight points of battery safety testing, and has tested more than 100,000 units internally.’

He also expressed the company’s willingness to face the sluggish Chinese market. The Galaxy S8 will be launched in China around mid-May, while Chinese support for the ‘Bixby’ is scheduled for June. President Koh mentioned, ‘The past two years have been very difficult, but China is not a market we can give up. We believe that Chinese consumers will appreciate good products and Chinese market will surely be recovered even if it takes time. Besides, it is also in the same context that China is offering 6GB of RAM and 128GB of high-performance Galaxy S8 Plus. He said, ‘The technology to increase the memory capacity is not hard, but the inventory management is complicated. As a result, we decided to release high-end products such as Korea and China.’

The two-sided edge display applied to the Galaxy S8 will continue to apply to the company`s premium phones. President Koh explained, ‘It was not until two or three months ago that the yield of the curved edge display was not satisfactory, and the production team leader said, it seems to be baking pottery. Now we have solved the yield problem and used edge as the identity of the flagship model.’


Samsung Electronics stated that it will launch Samsung Dex, which enables smartphones to be used as desktop PCs, Samsung Mobile Care, which provides iris authentication, discounts on LCD repair costs and battery replacement, Galaxy Friends` exclusive accessories. Besides, it has also introduced specialized phones such as Asiana Phone, Hana Card Phone, Galaxy S8 Shinsegae, and Galaxy S8 K bank.

By Jung Yoon Hee yuni@


[ copyright ⓒ The Digitaltimes ]