November 26, 2024

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Customers take a selfie with a Galaxy S24 smartphone at Samsung Store in Gurgaon, Haryana in India on Monday. (Samsung Electronics)

Samsung Electronics said on Tuesday it is starting sales of its latest flagship smartphone the Galaxy S24 globally, largely buoyed by record preorders made at home over the past week.

The new phone, dubbed the world’s first smartphone powered by artificial intelligence, is expected to hit the shelves first in key markets, including the US, Britain, Singapore, France, and India, from Wednesday. Ultimately Samsung aims to launch the phone in some 120 countries.

“The launch of the Galaxy S24 series demonstrates our initial step toward a new era of AI phones,” Samsung’s mobile business chief Roh Tae-moon said. “Designed to be an essential part of our daily lives, Galaxy AI will permanently change the way people interact with the world.”

According to Samsung, the latest Galaxy S24 achieved a double-digit growth in preorders compared to its predecessor S23. More than 65 percent of the consumers opted for the highest-priced Galaxy S24 Ultra model with a bigger screen.

In Korea, the phone sold 1.21 million units in a week, a preorder record for a Samsung phone. In India, the world’s second-largest smartphone market, it sold 250,000 units in three days, exceeding the three-week preorders of its predecessor S23.

The AI-powered Galaxy S24 features diverse functions including real-time translation in calls and messaging apps, Google’s Circle to Search, and ProVisual Engine, a tool for advanced photo editing.

Samsung also plans to offer software updates for previous models, including the Galaxy S23, Z Fold5, ZFlip5, to feature Galaxy AI.

The new phones are priced at 1.15 million won to 2.12 million won ($854-$1,570) depending on screen size and data capacity. The basic model price remains the same as its predecessor, while the highest-priced premium model is about 10 percent more expensive than the previous model.

By Jo He-rim (herim@heraldcorp.com)