Samsung has 20 million reasons to feel good given its impending launch of the Galaxy S6 and Galaxy S6 Edge, its latest entrants in its high-end smartphone portfolio.
Reports claim Samsung, whose overall shipments dipped in the fourth quarter for the first time in several years, already has 20 million preorders from wireless carriers. That's the biggest preorder activity the Korean handset maker has ever seen. Of the 20 million orders, 15 million are for the S6 and 5 million are for the S6 Edge, states a report.
"To be honest, preorders of the two Galaxy variants from our major clients are really huge," said Samsung Electronics mobile chief Shin Jong-Kyun. "This is a record," another Samsung executive told a media outlet.
The preorder news is clearly welcome news for Samsung, which dropped behind Apple in the fourth quarter in terms of smartphone shipments though it's still hanging tight as the global leader in smartphone sales.
Apple set its own records in 2014 with sales of the iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus.
Samsung's good news comes on the heels of not such good news. This weekend Samsung Mobile Chief Marketing Officer Todd Pendleton announced he will be leaving the company, notifying colleagues that effective April he will no longer be a part of Samsung.
Earlier reports made note that Samsung has a huge promotional and marketing campaign for the Galaxy S6 and Galaxy S6 Edge. Where that strategy stands given Pendleton's leaving is unclear.
The premarket orders indicate Samsung has done a good job in designing a smartphone that shaved big costs off in processor investment, boosted memory and offers a compelling display with a flexible OLED, says an industry analyst.
"We think the components side of the S6 is more positive for Samsung's earnings direction," said Mark C. Newman, an analyst with Bernstein Research.
As Tech Times reported last week, wireless carrier Verizon was the first to announce it would be carrying Samsung's new Galaxy smartphones but all carriers worldwide are on board to offer the new Galaxy handsets.
The smartphone received tons of praise at the recent Mobile World Congress event where it was awarded "Best New Handset." It should be noted that Apple did not attend the event.
Samsung has confirmed the Galaxy S6 and S6 Edge would be released globally on April 10 and Verizon Wireless announced on its Twitter page that it would open preorders for the Samsung Galaxy S6 and S6 Edge beginning on April 1. The carrier hasn't provided any pricing information or whether it plans to release the smartphones on April 10.
