Pre-orders for the Samsung Galaxy S8 and the Galaxy S8 Plus in the United States are going strong, Samsung said on Monday, noting that both devices are seemingly outperforming last year’s Galaxy S7 and Galaxy S7 Edge in terms of advanced orders. In a statement provided to CNBC, Samsung said that pre-orders are up by at least ten percent in comparison to its last flagship duo that launched in early 2016. The Seoul-based consumer electronics manufacturer also revealed that the majority of customers in the country are opting for the Galaxy S8 Plus instead of its smaller counterpart.
While some industry watchers were speculating that Samsung may struggle to promote the Galaxy S8 and the Galaxy S8 Plus following last year’s Galaxy Note 7 fiasco that shed some doubt on the company’s ability to deliver safe products, it’s also possible that the increased demand for the Samsung’s new smartphones was actually caused by that ordeal. Following the discontinuation of the Galaxy Note 7, some of the company’s loyal customers were left without a brand-new Galaxy device, and industry watchers speculate those consumers were willing to wait for the Galaxy S8 lineup instead of opting for either the Galaxy S7 devices or handsets made by another manufacturer. Regardless, it seems that most customers aren’t worried by Samsung’s previous debacle and are willing to give the company another chance. As for the fact that the larger variant of the company’s new Android flagship is seemingly more popular in the United States, this state of affairs indicates Samsung is still right to follow its strategy of increasing the screen real estate of its devices.
Regarding the handsets themselves, the main difference between the two is their screen size as the Galaxy S8 features a 5.8-inch display while the Galaxy S8 Plus boasts a 6.2-inch one. Other than that, both handsets will be powered by the Qualcomm Snapdragon 835 system-on-chip (SoC) in the U.S. and the Exynos 8895 chip in most other markets, in addition to sporting 4GB of RAM and at least 64GB of storage space. The Galaxy S8 and the Galaxy S8 Plus are scheduled to debut worldwide on April 21.