iPhone 7 Hits South Korean Stores in Samsung Galaxy Note 7’s Absence
The Apple iPhone 7 went on sale in South Korea on Friday, seeking to fill a void left by arch-rival Samsung on its home turf following a damaging recall fiasco over the Note 7 smartphone.
The South Korean electronics giant discontinued the Galaxy Note 7 – one of its key iPhone challengers – on October 11 following reports that replacements for combustible models were also catching fire.
The decision is set to cost Samsung billions in lost profits, and there are already signs that Apple is reaping some of the benefits.
An official at mobile carrier Korea Telecom (KT) said the first batch of 50,000 iPhone 7s they put up for pre-order a week ago sold out in 15 minutes.
(Also see: Galaxy Note 7 Fiasco Could Increase iPhone 7, iPhone 7 Plus Sales by 7 Million: Analyst)
“I would attribute part of that to the Galaxy Note 7 effect,” said the official, who declined to be identified because he was not authorised to talk to the media.
Customer defection is one of Samsung’s biggest concerns, especially as the Galaxy Note 7 was specifically aimed at taking on the iPhone in the premium handset market.
In the hope of retaining customer loyalty, Samsung had offered Galaxy Note 7 users a KRW 70,000 ($60) phone bill credit if they swapped their faulty phones with another Samsung handset.
The half-dozen customers buying the new iPhone at a KT store in central Seoul on Friday were all long-time Apple users who had pre-ordered their handsets.
Office worker Lee Kyung-Hee, 34, said she had moved fast when the pre-order service opened, fearing a surge of interest from unhappy Galaxy Note 7 owners.
“I set an alarm and was very quick,” Lee said.
In South Korea, retail prices for the iPhone 7 and 7 Plus start from KRW 869,000 and KRW 1.02 million respectively, for their basic 32GB models.
Apple iPhone 7 Apple iPhone 7
Rs. 58,087
KEY SPECS
NEWS
Display
4.70-inch
Processor
quad-core
Front Camera
7-megapixel
Resolution
750×1334 pixels
RAM
2GB
OS
iOS 10
Storage
32GB
Rear Camera
12-megapixel
Battery capacity
1960mAh
See full Apple iPhone 7 specifications
BUY AT
Amazon
Apple iPhone 7 (Gold, 32GB)
Rs. 58,087
Amazon
Apple iPhone 7 (Black, 32GB) –
Rs. 59,799
Amazon
Apple iPhone 7 (Silver, 32GB) –
Rs. 59,900
Apple iPhone 7 Plus Apple iPhone 7 Plus
Rs. 71,990
KEY SPECS
NEWS
Display
5.50-inch
Processor
quad-core
Front Camera
7-megapixel
Resolution
1080×1920 pixels
RAM
3GB
OS
iOS 10
Storage
32GB
Rear Camera
12-megapixel
Battery capacity
2900mAh
See full Apple iPhone 7 Plus specifications
BUY AT
Amazon
Apple iPhone 7 Plus (Black, 32GB) –
Rs. 71,990
Amazon
Apple iPhone 7 Plus (Gold, 32GB) –
Rs. 71,999
Amazon
Apple iPhone 7 Plus (Rose Gold, 32GB) –
Rs. 72,000
Samsung Galaxy Note7 Samsung Galaxy Note7
KEY SPECS
NEWS
Display
5.70-inch
Processor
1.6GHz
Front Camera
5-megapixel
Resolution
1440×2560 pixels
RAM
4GB
OS
Android 6.0.1
Storage
64GB
Rear Camera
12-megapixel
Battery capacity
3500mAh
See full Samsung Galaxy Note7 specifications
Also See
Amazon
Samsung Galaxy J7 Prime (Gold, 32GB)
Rs. 18,349
Amazon
Samsung Galaxy J7 Prime (Black, 16GB)
Rs. 18,750
Amazon
Samsung Galaxy On7 (Gold, 8GB)
Rs. 11,499
Tags: iPhone 7 Price, Galaxy Note 7 Recall, Galaxy Note 7 Battery Explosion, Samsung, Apple, Mobiles
[“Source-Gadgets”]
