Samsung Electronics Corp yesterday announced Taiwanese consumers could start pre-ordering the company’s new flagship Galaxy S4 smartphone from today, a little over a month after the company unveiled the Android-based product in New York.
Samsung has priced its new 5-inch, 16 gigabyte model at NT$21,900. Consumers can own the phone at zero cost by paying minimum monthly subscription fees ranging from NT$2,199 to NT$2,540 to local telecom carriers under a two-year contract.
The company plans to start selling the S4 in 155 countries on April 27 by collaborating with 327 telecom carriers around the world.
The new Galaxy S4 is an extension of Samsung’s Galaxy Android smartphone series that has underpinned the company’s dominance in the mobile phone market.
“Samsung Galaxy S4 features its ultra-sensory intelligence technology and advanced software and hardware. We are very confident that our new product, with promotion by telecoms carriers and other sales channels, will become consumers’ best choice this year,” said Andy Tu (杜偉昱), general manager of the Samsung Taiwan mobile communication team.
Meanwhile, the Fair Trade Commission is investigating whether Samsung hired people to spread negative reviews online about its rivals’ products, including HTC Corp’s (宏達電) new flagship product, the HTC One.
Tu played down the investigation’s impact on sales and said the company would focus on “experience marketing” to promote its new product.
Samsung was the world’s largest handset vendor last year, shipping 384.63 million mobile phones, with a market share of 22 percent, followed by Nokia’s 19.1 percent and Apple’s 7.5 percent, according to Gartner Inc’s statistics.
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