ED#189 : Pre-Order Record For Samsung GALAXY S6 & S6 Edge & Other Updates

On the 2nd of March, Samsung revealed not one, but two, new smartphones - the Samsung GALAXY S6 and the Samsung GALAXY S6 Edge. Available in eight colour options and packed with the latest smartphone technologies, the two new GALAXY smartphones represents Samsung's all-out effort to reinvigorate the GALAXY brand and recapture their position in the smartphone market.

This cannot come any sooner, after the market's rejection of the GALAXY S5 led to a 21% drop in mobile phone sales in 2014. With their Q4 profit dropping 64% from 5.47 trillion won in 2013 to just 1.96 trillion won, Samsung Mobile needed a winner and they could have just that in their new GALAXY S6 and GALAXY S6 Edge smartphones.

Although the lack of a microSD slot or a user-replaceable battery had many people grumbling, mobile carriers appear to be delighted with the two new GALAXY S6 smartphones. In fact, The Korea Times reported that Samsung received "some 20 million pre-orders for the S6 and S6 Edge" - 15 million units of the GALAXY S6 and 5 million units of the GALAXY S6 Edge.

If that's true, that would make the new GALAXY S6 the best-selling Samsung smartphone... EVER.

Of course, there are some caveats. The 20 million units were pre-ordered by mobile carriers and does not necessarily represent the number of pre-orders by actual customers. In addition, the pre-order figures are for two smartphone models - the regular S6 and the S6 Edge, not just a single model.

That said, it shows the amount of confidence mobile carriers have that the two new GALAXY S6 models will sell, and sell well.

Experience the Samsung Galaxy S6 & S6 Edge Unpacked Event

First Launch Locations & Prices

As Samsung revealed at The Next Galaxy Unpacked event, the GALAXY S6 and the GALAXY S6 Edge will launch in 10 countries on the 10th of April, 2015. Although they have so far refused to divulge those ten countries, we have identified six of them :

• South Korea (naturally)
• United States of America (Verizon Wireless will offer pre-orders on the 1st of April)
• United Kingdom (MobileFun and eBay UK offering pre-orders now, with telcos like O2 offering pre-orders soon)
• The Netherlands (Vodafone and T-Mobile offering pre-orders right now)
• Malaysia (Maxis and DiGi would be offering pre-orders soon)
• Singapore

We also heard that Samsung has extended the number of first launch countries from 10 to 20, so more people around the world will not have to wait long to own one. We will update this list whenever we hear more on this. If you hear anything, let us know!

As for launch prices, the Galaxy S6 (32 GB) is selling for 700 euros in The Netherlands, with the Galaxy S6 Edge (32 GB) priced at a hefty 850 euros. The Galaxy S6 is expected to sell in the US for US$ 699 for the 32 GB model.

Here in Malaysia, the Galaxy S6 (32 GB) is expected to sell for RM 2,499 while the Galaxy S6 Edge will be priced at RM 2,999.

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Specifications

For those who missed our update of The Next Galaxy Unpacked event, here are the specifications of the GALAXY S6 and the GALAXY S6 Edge smartphones :

Be sure to check out our updated The Next Galaxy Unpacked event for the Malaysian event photos and videos, as well as the full Mobile World Congress launch event video, as well as other details.

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