In case you haven’t noticed, the Galaxy S5 is on its way and of course, with it come a whole bunch of rumors and leaks. All of this can be pretty interesting, but it’s not often that we get some information that seems like it’s actually come out of Samsung, or someone “familiar with the matter”, a lot of it’s just conjecture. Now though, it seems that SamMobile have gotten their hands on what could be international model numbers for the upcoming Galaxy S5. What this essentially means, is a whole bunch of numbers after the SM-G900 part of the number. If you’re interested in model numbers – and who isn’t? then take a look at the list below:
SM-G9006V_CHN_CHN (China) , SM-G9008V_CHN_ZM (China) , SM-G9009D_CHN_CTC (China) , SM-G900A_NA_ATT (AT&T), SM-G900D_JPN_DCM (Japan) , SM-G900F_EUR_XX (Open Europe) , SM-G900H_EUR_XX (Open Europe), SM-G900I_SEA_XSA (Asia), SM-G900J_JPN_KDI (Japan), SM-G900K_KOR_KTC (Korea), SM-G900M_LA_VF (Vodafone), SM-G900P_NA_SPR (Sprint), SM-G900R4_NA_USC (US Cellular), SM-G900S_KOR_SKC (Korea), SM-G900T_NA_TMB (T-Mobile), SM-G900V_NA_VZW (Verizon) and
SM-G900W8_NA_BMC (BMC).
Astute readers will have noticed the region codes towards the end of the model numbers, like the SM-G900P_NA_SPR for the North American carrier Sprint. This is a lot neater than previous model number schemes that Samsung has used, but it might not be just to look tidy on shipping documents. Rather, this could be more to do with a continuation of the region-locking policy Samsung debuted with the Galaxy Note 3. It seems that this sort of thing only really applies to GSM devices, and it’s essentially a way for Samsung to stop unwanted device imports and unlocking. If you were to buy a Galaxy S5 in Germany for instance, and activate with a German SIM then you’d still be able to use the device overseas (provided it’s an unlocked model) however, if you were to buy a German Galaxy S5 and try to activate it with a UK SIM card then you’d be unable to. It seems like a shady practice, but in reality it’s just to prevent people importing devices from other nations.
It remains to be seen if the Galaxy S5 will utilize this strategy or not, but considering the high-value of Galaxy S devices these days, we really wouldn’t be surprised. As usual, the list also shows us that the Galaxy S5 is heading to all four major carriers in the US, too.