Galaxy S9 pre-orders to begin soon

By Kang Seung-woo

BARCELONA, Spain ― Samsung Electronics plans to initiate nine days of pre-orders for its new flagship smartphone, Wednesday, according to the company.

In addition, the new device will hit local shelves March 16.

The announcement came hours after the world’s largest smartphone maker unveiled the Galaxy S9 and S9 Plus on the eve of the Mobile World Congress (MWC), Sunday. The high-end handsets are receiving rave reviews for their upgraded camera performance.

The price tag for the standard S9 with a 64GB internal storage will be 957,000 won ($890) and the larger S9 Plus will retail at 1.05 million won for the 64GB model and 1.15 million won for the 256GB edition.

Although the S9 series comes with four color options: coral blue, midnight black, titanium gray and lilac purple, the titanium gray was excluded.

Pre-orders will be received through 4,000 shops and this time, consumers can pre-order an unlocked S9 phone.

More notable is that its loyal customers can activate their brand new smartphone much earlier than those who purchase them after the official release.

According to Samsung, it plans to ship the Galaxy S9 phones to early bird customers from March 9 to 15.

In order to boost pre-orders, Samsung is ready to offer freebies.

Those who pre-order the most expensive device, the 256GB S9 Plus, will receive AKG headphones, while Dex Pad will be offered to pre-ordering customers of the S9 and the 64GB S9 Plus. The new docking system allows users to connect the Galaxy S9 and S9 Plus to a larger monitor, keyboard and mouse.

Also, Samsung will offer a 50 percent discount for pre-order customers who have to repair a broken screen in the future.

Samsung, Vodafone reach strategic partnership

Meanwhile, Samsung and Vodafone, the world’s second-largest mobile carrier, formed an exclusive strategic telecom partnership in selected European markets to develop and launch a range of consumer internet of things (IoT) “Smart Home” products and services, the two companies announced, Sunday.

The “V-Home by Vodafone” suite brings together Samsung’s “SmartThings” open platform and the “V by Vodafone” consumer IoT system to offer consumers simple but powerful home automation, security and safety products and services.

“Samsung is committed to offering our consumers an easier, more convenient and smarter life through a growing range of devices and solutions,” said Koh Dong-jin, president of Samsung’s IT and mobile business.

“By bringing together V-Home by Vodafone, the SmartThings open platform and our SmartThings app we are offering customers a simple-to-operate management system for a growing range of smart home products that will enrich their lives.”