April 25, 2024

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[THE INVESTOR] Some 200,000 units of Samsung Electronics’ latest flagship Galaxy Note 9 were shipped to those who had made preorders in Korea on Aug. 21, according to industry data on Aug. 22.

The nation’s top three mobile carriers -- SK Telecom, KT and LG Uplus -- started delivering the Note 9 on Aug. 21 to those who preordered the Samsung phone earlier this month.

Official sales are scheduled to begin on Aug. 24.

The first shipment figure for Note 9 is 10 percent higher than that for Galaxy S9, which hit the store shelves in March this year, and similar to that of Galaxy Note 8, first released approximately a year ago.

Meanwhile, the number of mobile subscribers of the three telecom firms who have switched mobile carriers reached 29,738 on the first day of the shipment, according to a different set of data compiled by Korea Telecommunications Operators Association, an organization that promotes the local telecom industry,

On the first day of the S9 sales earlier this year, 24,225 subscribers ported their numbers while 38,452 Galaxy Note 8 users did so.

The number of subscribers porting their mobile numbers is used as a barometer for the Korea Communications Commission, the nation’s telecom watchdog, when judging if the market is overheated. It also shows the popularity of a newly released phone.

The KCC considers the mobile market is overheated when the number of carrier switches surpasses 24,000 per day.

By Kim Young-won (wone0102@heraldclrop.com)