Francisco De Jesùs.
Demand for the Samsung Galaxy S5 is high pre-registrations and pre-orders in some countries surpassed a 130% up compared to the Galaxy S4 last year. Korean carriers have launched the device already after convincing Samsung.
"The Galaxy S5 could be shipped a bit earlier in other countries including the U.S. if overseas mobile carriers continue to pressure Samsung,” said Kim Hong-sik, an analyst from Hana Daetoo Securities.
The carriers also did not acknowledge April 11 as the official release date.
“Verizon has said it will carry the Samsung Galaxy S5, but we have not made any other details about pricing or availability public as yet,” said Debra Lewis, an associate director of Verizon Wireless’ corporate communications team, hinting at the possibility of an earlier release in the U.S.
Other global telecom firms including AT&T, T-Mobile and Sprint are said to be planning to ship orders several days ahead of April 11, according to news reports.
This means the carriers would, as the Korean telecoms have done, be pushing ahead with the launch regardless of Samsung’s wishes.
In such a case, however, supply would be a major hurdle, industry watchers said.
Samsung would have to secure at least 5 million units for a worldwide release, and whether its factories both at home and overseas are ready to churn out such a number remains to be seen.
In Korea, Samsung is rumored to have given only 3,000-5,000 handsets to each of the three domestic mobile carriers. A nationwide release requires a minimum 30,000-40,000 units, according to industry sources.
One source close to Samsung said the factories are currently running 24-7 in order to meet the demands from overseas mobile carriers.
"The early Korean telecoms launch also could have been a part of promotions conducted jointly by Samsung and SK Telecom to get people to pay more attention ahead of the global release,” said another source close to the matter.
April 11 stills the Samsung`s offcial release date, but an early launch might happen before April 11 in some countries.
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