It turns out that the LG G6 is selling so well that Samsung is already taking preemptive measures. The company released a brand new teaser for the Galaxy S8 in its home country, hoping it’ll be enough to keep buyers entertained — and more importantly, keep them away from LG’s latest flagship handset.
Unveiled at MWC 2017 in late February, the G6 is apparently off to a flying start in Korea. LG said it sold more than 30,000 G6 units since Friday, with preorders having topped 82,000 units since March 2nd. These might not seem like huge numbers, but the G6 is apparently doing better than the Galaxy S7.
“The LG G6 sold 20,000 units on the first day of sales, a record high compared to its predecessors,” KB Securities analyst Kim Dong-won said. “The figure was higher than double and quadruple that of the Galaxy S7 Edge and Galaxy A5. If this trend continues, LG’s mobile business is likely to see a reduction of more than 1 trillion won in operating losses from the previous year.”
“Samsung’s rare move to release a TV ad for the Galaxy this early appears to (be an attempt to) keep LG from dominating the nation’s premium smartphone market before the S8 rollout,” added an unnamed analyst said, according to Phone Arena.
Is Samsung frightened of LG’s G6? Noted analyst Ming-Chi Kuo said in a recent note to clients that the Galaxy S8 might not be as popular as its predecessor when it comes to overall sales. Kuo said that Samsung might sell 40 million to 45 million Galaxy S8 units this year, compared to 52 million Galaxy S7 units sold last year.
The Galaxy S8 won’t be official for another two weeks, which means LG has even more time to steal customers from its biggest rival. In the meantime, you can check out Samsung’s short Galaxy S8 teaser from South Korea below — but don’t expect any revelations from it, aside from the number 8 and the phone’s confirmed announcement date for Korea.
