Pre-orders for the Samsung Galaxy S8 and the Galaxy S8 Plus have surpassed 720,000 units in South Korea, the Seoul-based tech giant said on Thursday. Since the company opened pre-orders for its upcoming flagship lineup last Friday, approximately 728,000 consumers opted to place an advanced order on the devices. The Galaxy S8 and the Galaxy S8 Plus already broke Samsung’s domestic pre-order record over the weekend after surpassing the 550,000 mark and thus outperforming the Galaxy S7 and the Galaxy S7 Edge. While speaking at a media conference in Seocho earlier today, Samsung’s mobile chief Koh Dong-jin said the company is looking to sell one million devices in South Korea before they officially hit the market on April 21.
Koh didn’t want to use the occasion to reveal the exact pre-order figures in the United States but reiterated that the Galaxy S8 and the Galaxy S8 Plus are also outperforming their predecessors stateside. While both devices are currently advertised in a rather aggressive manner, Samsung’s mobile chief said the company isn’t spending more on marketing them compared to the Galaxy S7 lineup. However, the Seoul-based consumer electronics manufacturer did opt to increase its marketing spending to recover its brand image that took a hit following the Galaxy Note 7 debacle in 2016, Koh revealed, adding how Samsung is also looking to recover its market position in China. To that effect, Samsung will be releasing a premium model of the Galaxy S8 Plus with 6GB of RAM and 128GB of internal storage in the Far Eastern country. The special variant of the device is currently only planned for a release in China and South Korea, though Koh’s previous comments implied Samsung may consider expanding its availability to more markets later this year, depending on consumer demand.
The Galaxy S8 and the Galaxy S8 Plus will launch in China in mid-May, as soon as Samsung wraps up initial development of its Bixby virtual assistant, while most other key markets including the United States and Europe will receive the handsets next Friday. The Galaxy S8 lineup is expected to become a massive commercial success, though it remains to be seen whether it will help Samsung recover its diminishing market share in China.