Pre-orders for Samsung's S21 series much higher than last year's S20

Image: Collected
Samsung registered a 46 per cent increase in pre-orders for its newly-launched Galaxy S21 phone series found in the Gulf region in comparison to last year's S20 line-up, a senior enterprise official said.

The premium model in the series, the S21 Ultra, attracted the most interest with an increase of than 65 per cent of total pre-orders, Osman Albora, senior director of Samsung Gulf Electronics' cellular division, told The National.

“Orders were even higher in the UAE … 56 % a lot more than the S20 series,” said Mr Albora, who also did not disclose the specific number of orders.

The consumer electronics giant started sales of three brand-new models - the S21, the S21+ and the S21 Ultra - over the GCC on Sunday. It started out taking advance orders for the units on January 14, if they were launched globally.

The S21 Ultra starts from Dh4,899. The S21+ and S21 start from Dh3,799 and Dh3,199, respectively.

Samsung said it sold 45.2 % of 5G phones in the UAE, the second-largest economy in the Arab world, found in 2020, and Mr Albora predicts this increase.

“5G enhances the entire mobile experience … its share will continue steadily to grow … Samsung provides democratised the technology by offering it across [a] diverse selection of portfolios,” Mr Albora said.

This past year, Samsung’s business on the premium phone segment - which include handsets coming in at $600 or over - grew in dual digits on the UAE, Mr Albora said, citing data from German research company GFK's UAE market report.

“In the premium segment, we held 34.1 % market share in the UAE - practically 12 per cent more than 2019 … we experienced a similar growth in other areas of the Gulf region.”

Samsung is adding a stylus to the S21 Ultra - an initial found in the series. Users can either choose a preexisting S Pen from a Note device or purchase one separately.

As with its US rival Apple, Samsung has also stopped shipping wired headphones and in-field chargers with the S21 series, citing sustainability reasons.

Mr Albora is optimistic about growth in 2021.

“2020 was the entire year of modification and technology helped us to remain connected through the entire unpredictable time.

“In addition, it accelerated the mobile-first environment as persons have started utilizing their smartphones much more. This tendency is here now in which to stay the post-Covid globe and 5G will come to be one of the key generating forces,” he added.
Source: https://www.thenationalnews.com

Tags :

Share this news on:

Previous Story

Trending Topics

Archive