Consumers stand in line at Paris, France, to purchase the Galaxy S7 and the Galaxy S7 Edge. (Image : Yonhap)
SEOUL, March 16 (Korea Bizwire) – Samsung Electronics Co.‘s Galaxy S7 Edge, one of the South Korean tech giant’s latest two flagship smartphones, boasted higher than expected sales in Europe compared to its sister, industry sources said Wednesday.
According to the sources, the Galaxy S7 Edge, which comes with a display that curves at both ends, accounted for 86 percent of the combined preorders for the latest flagship series in Europe. The figure compares to the 40 percent posted in South Korea, they added.
Other sources said earlier that the preorders for the Galaxy S7 series more than doubled compared to the Galaxy S6 models that kicked off last year, setting a new preorder record for Samsung smartphones in Europe.’
The Galaxy S7 series officially hit the shelves on Friday, coming out in major markets including South Korea, the United States and Europe. Sources said sales of the new models in Seoul reached 100,000 units in two days after the release.
Analysts said the devices could be the game-changer for Samsung Electronics amid its faltering handset business.
Consumers stand in line at Rotterdam, the Netherlands, to purchase the Galaxy S7 and the Galaxy S7 Edge on March 11, 2016. (Image : Yonhap)
“As (Samsung) improved the hardware of the Galaxy S7 in a more consumer-friendly manner, and reduced the factory price, the market’s reaction is positive,” said Eo Kyu-jin, an analyst at eBEST Investment & Securities Co. “Compared to the weak expectation, the outcome is fair.”
The local price of the 32 gigabyte (GB) Galaxy S7 is 836,000 won (US$700), compared with the initial price of 858,000 won for the 32GB Galaxy S6. That of the 32GB Galaxy S7 Edge stands at 924,000 won, also down 5.6 percent from its predecessor.
Samsung’s IT and mobile business, which is in charge of smartphones, posted an operating profit of 2.23 trillion won in the fourth quarter, up from 1.96 trillion won a year earlier. But the sector’s operating profit continued to remain well below the 6.43 trillion won posted in the first quarter of 2014.
(Yonhap)
