Samsung readies for Galaxy S8 launch in Japan

Published : May 28, 2017 - 15:55 Updated : May 28, 2017 - 18:47

Tech behemoth Samsung Electronics on Thursday opened its Galaxy Studio at Bank Gallery, located in Omotesando, Tokyo, the company said Sunday, ahead of the planned launch of its Galaxy S8 next month.

Samsung Electronics will hold a series of promotional events at its newly opened studio through July 3, the company added.

At the studio, customers will have hands-on experience of Samsung‘s latest electronic gadgets, including Galaxy S8, Galaxy S8 Plus, new 360-degree camera Gear 360 and Gear VR, a mobile virtual reality headset developed by the company.

A picture of Samsung Electronic’s Galaxy Studio at Bank Gallery, located in Omotesando, Tokyo. (Samsung)

Samsung Electronics is forecast to release its flagship Galaxy S8 smartphones in Japan in early June, through NTT Docomo and KDDI, Japan’s first and second mobile service providers.

Japan will be the last major market that Samsung Electronics launches its new flagship smartphones in. With the rollout in Japan, Samsung‘s newest premium smartphones are selling in 150 countries worldwide, the company said.

With the rollout of its Galaxy S8 smartphones, the company aims to rebound in the Japanese market.

The company‘s market presence, which was at around 15 percent in 2012, has been dropping on the back of growing competition in the smartphone market in Japan.

In the first three months this year, Samsung Electronics sold some 300,000 smartphones in Japan, ranking fifth with 3.8 percent market share, according to Strategy Analytics.

According to the same report, Apple accounted for some 50 percent market share in Japan, followed by Sony, whose market share reached 13.5 percent, during the same period.

Meanwhile, Samsung Electronics reported on May 16 that global sales of the Galaxy S8 smartphones passed 10 million units, while its domestic sales in Korea reached 1 million units as of March 27.

By Shim Woo-hyun (ws@heraldcorp.com)