The Korea Times reported that Samsung
squarely denied yesterday's rumor about a possible early launch for
the Galaxy S5. After a weekly meeting of Samsung's board of
directors, JK Shin (pictured), co-CEO and head of the company's mobile division,
told reporters that “Samsung hasn’t agreed with SK Telecom for
an early release of our GS5 to only SK Telecom customers."
It appears that the two companies were
indeed discussing to launch the handset early, on March 27 (this
Thursday), possibly as an exclusive to SK Telecom. That would have
been in order to circumvent an impending 45-day government ban on
smartphone sales in South Korea, a measure detrimental to Samsung,
local carriers, and ultimately, customers.
Apparently, the talks went as far as to
make SK Telecom prepare an official statement in advance, which was
to notify customers about the Galaxy S5 being available from March
27. The plan had been approved by the telecom's top management, but
canceled after Samsung announced its decision to not cooperate with
the carrier.
Although Mr. Shin didn't explicitly
deny that the Galaxy S5 won't be out earlier in other countries, or
for other telecoms, it feels naive to think about the possibility of
a South Korean or global launch tomorrow. If this was the case, we
reckon the announcement would have came earlier. Although the Galaxy
S5 will have launch events across some countries (such as India and
Malaysia) on March 27, as far as we know, the smartphone will start
selling everywhere from April 11, as originally planned. The global
rollout will cover 150 countries, although South Korean customers
will have very limited options to get the phone until prohibition
ends.
source: The
Korea Times via G
For Games
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