November 22, 2024

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[THE INVESTOR] Preorders for Samsung Electronics' latest flagship smartphone Galaxy S8 have exceeded the 1 million mark over the past 10 days, according to industry data collected from local telecom carriers on April 18.

After the phone’s highly publicized unveiling on March 29, Samsung started receiving preorders from April 7 on its home turf. 

More than 1 million preorder sales is the highest-ever figure for a new smartphone here.

The phone’s official launch is set to start on April 21.

Sources say Samsung has set the sales target at more than 60 million units for the S8, which compares to some 52 million unit sales of the predecessor S7.

Market research firm Counterpoint Research predicts the sales to exceed 50 million units this year alone.

“The issue is how many preorder customers will actually purchase the phone. Considering the ratio was more than 70 percent for the Galaxy Note 7 last year, the figure for the S8 will be similar or more,” an official of a telecom company said on condition of anonymity.

The official said the S8 will maintain its sales momentum at least until Apple’s new iPhone comes out in September.

By Lee Ji-yoon (jylee@heraldcorp.com)