Samsung's 512GB Galaxy Note 9 Is An Unexpected Pre-order Winner In South Korea
With the high price that the Samsung Galaxy Note 9 is commanding, you might expect that many buyers would be getting the entry-level 128GB version of the smartphone that still costs $999.99 in the States and 1.09 million won in Korea. That’s not the case in South Korea, where a new report claims that over half the preorders for the smartphone have been for the more expensive 512GB version of the phone. In the States that 512GB version sells for $1,249.99 or 1.35 million won. The information cited in this report comes from industry data.
The Note 9 started going out to those who pre-ordered the device in South Korea on August 21; the retail launch of the smartphone is set for August 24. Korean mobile company SK Telecom has confirmed that most users on its network have purchased the 512GB version of the smartphone. If 512GB turns out to be not enough storage space, the smartphone can be extended to 1TB of storage with a 512GB microSD card.
SK Telecom also noted that the blue version of the Note 9 had been the most popular on its network. Things are looking good in South Korea for Samsung with regards to the Galaxy Note 9 with carriers reporting stronger preorders of the Note 9 than the Galaxy S9 that launched in March (which has been widely viewed as underperforming for Samsung). The downside for Samsung is that reports also indicate that the preorders for the Note 9 were under the amount that the Note 8 received before launch.
The challenge for Samsung and other manufacturers is that smartphone sales are soft, and consumers are holding onto their devices for longer periods of time between upgrades. Some of the cause of slow upgrades can be laid at the feet of manufacturers who have been peddling devices with minimal differences compared to the model it replaces. While looking very similar, there are major differences under the skin between the Galaxy Note 8 and Note 9 smartphones. One of the major differences is the notebook class cooling solution used by the Note 9 and its faster Snapdragon 845 processor.
