Fastest 10 million seller?

Samsung Electronics mobile chief Shin Jong-kyun holds Galaxy S3 smartphones during a launch event to unveil the device in Korea at the company’s main office in downtown Seoul, Monday. / Courtesy of Samsung Electronics

Samsung chief touts Galaxy S3

The head of Samsung Electronics’ handset division said Monday that the Galaxy S3 will become the fastest 10 million seller in the company’s history, expecting that it will see better results in the second quarter despite a worsening business environment.

However, he denied allegations that an S3 exploded after over-heating while attached to an in-car adapter in Ireland.

The upbeat outlook came at the launch of the Galaxy S3 for the domestic market at Samsung’s main office in downtown Seoul.

“The S3 is expected to see 10 million in sales by July, just two months after its release,’’ handset boss Shin Jong-kyun said during the event. Following the smartphone’s May debut in London, it will be provided to 302 wireless carriers in 147 countries by the end of July.

The top executive said that the company will see a much better performance in the second quarter both in operating profit and sales thanks to strong sales of the S3 globally.

“We are in challenging times. Economies in Europe are bad. But I cautiously expect the second quarter to be better than the first,’’ Shin said.

He added that Samsung is confident that it will achieve this year’s sales target of 360 million including 130 million smartphones. Samsung sold 92.5 million phones in the first quarter, surpassing Nokia as the global handset industry leader.

The 13.66 by 7.06 centimeter S3 may be wider than some of its rivals but this is offset by the phone’s width of just 0.86 centimeters. It comes with a 4.8-inch Super AMOLED display and the long-term evolution (LTE) handset will be available to Korean consumers from early next month.

According to the median average of 15 local and foreign brokerages, Samsung Electronics is likely to report record quarterly operating profit of 6.7 trillion won in the second quarter.

No explosion

Shin went on to play down reports of an S3 handset exploding in a user’s car in Ireland. “Simply put, the Galaxy S3 didn’t explode. We’ve secured evidence that the latest accident in Ireland doesn’t have any critical link to a battery explosion.’’

He said Samsung-commissioned agencies in the United Kingdom are still investigating the incident and added Samsung will report the results soon. But he said Samsung needs to work on the issue to assure customers the S3 isn’t “potentially dangerous.’’

Shin did admit that a parts shortage for use in the S3 was a headache.

“There are some problems for the procurement of parts. We are having difficulties effectively meeting demand for the S3,’’ he said, hoping Samsung will see a supply-demand balance from next week. However, this is not likely as the shortage is expected to continue in the coming quarters.

According to San Diego-based Qualcomm, due to the huge popularity of its Snapdragon S4 chip, combined with the relative immaturity of the 28-nanometer processing technology, supply will be tight through next year.

The debut of the S3 in Canada has been delayed. Samsung has said it will not be available there until June 27.

It’s not clear if the delay is due to the shortage of the Snapdragon S4 processors used in the North American S3 but Shin’s remarks were regarded as Samsung’s broad consensus that any future supply shortages will be “short-lived.’’ <The Korea Times/Kim Yoo-chul>

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