Samsung Pay boosts Galaxy sales

Samsung Pay demonstrates how Edge Plus works outside Woori Bank at Seocho Samsung Tower, southern Seoul, Sunday. The bank has teamed with Samsung to promote the mobile pay application. / Courtesy of Samsung Electronics

By Kim Yoo-chul

Samsung Electronics' mobile payment system, "Samsung Pay," is helping it exceed expected sales of its two latest Galaxy devices ― the Note5 and S6 Edge Plus (Edge Plus) ― in Korea.

Officials at local carriers said Sunday that the devices have been receiving "very positive reviews" from customers who had used previous models.

"Samsung Pay is drawing keen attention from local customers. I think the key point is how Samsung improved the stability of the system," said an official at KT, the nation's No. 2 mobile carrier. Samsung teamed up with more than 10 local card issuers to boost the Pay system.

The combined sales of the two Samsung phones was said to have surpassed 100,000 three days after their local launch.

"The combined average sales on a daily basis reached about 25,000. This is much more than sales of the Note4 and Note Edge which were introduced in September last year. Samsung's decision to release the new Note and Galaxy a few months ahead of their international debut has had a good impact," said an official at SK Telecom.

Samsung Electronics declined to comment about sales figures of its latest devices in the last three days.

The company's decision to lower the price of the two models is considered another factor for continued solid sales, analysts said.

Samsung skipped the annual IFA technology fair to introduce its new models, choosing New York to reveal the two models in an attempt to gain traction ahead of Apple's new product launches.

The price of the Note5 with 32-gigabyte storage capacity is 890,000 won without a carrier subsidy, while the price of the Edge Plus is 940,000 won, the lowest recommended retail prices since Samsung started selling large-sized smartphones under the moniker "fonblets."

"Local carriers are launching aggressive promotional campaigns and this is another positive factor for Samsung. A customer who pays the highest monthly payment set by each carrier can purchase Note5 or Edge Plus for below 500,000 won, which is a good offer," said an official at LG Uplus.

Samsung Electronics is desperate to attract new users in the wake of poor sales of its last Galaxy Android smartphones.

It recently announced its fifth consecutive quarter of declining profits because of the disappointing performance of its Galaxy S6 and S6 Edge. Both models failed to capture the wallets of consumers who were hoping for major enhancements such as camera functions.