Samsung Electronics failed to keep its new Galaxy S5 smartphone from going on sale early in South Korea yesterday as SK Telecom and other carriers try to work around penalties imposed by the national regulator.
Samsung is getting drawn into a battle among South Korean carriers for users, with illegal discounts prompting the government regulator to limit their ability to sign up new customers for 45 days. Samsung is counting on the marquee device to maintain its lead in a global smartphone market where it competes with Apple for high-end shoppers and Chinese producers including Xiaomi target budget buyers.
"We are very puzzled," Samsung said in a statement. "SK Telecom strongly asked for an earlier release of the product but we delivered our stance that the global release date of April 11 remains unchanged."
"We decided to release the product for a wider consumer choice of handsets before our operation suspension begins on April 5," Irene Kim, a spokeswoman for SK Telecom, said.
Consumers were able to start buying the Galaxy S5 for 866,800 won (HK$6,244) from SK Telecom's 3,000 retail stores and website from yesterday, South Korea's largest carrier said. Existing customers of KT and LG Uplus can purchase the device under certain conditions, the companies said.