Samsung said that unexpectedly high demand for its latest flagship
smartphone, the Galaxy S4, was behind shipping issues that delayed
scheduled sales in the US market.
"We
are experiencing difficulty in boosting supply in the short term
because pre-order demand has been far stronger than we anticipated,"
said Lee Don-Joo, head of sales and marketing at Samsung's mobile unit.
US
telecom carriers T-Mobile and Sprint both had to postpone scheduled
sales of the S4, citing delays in shipments from the South Korean
consumer electronics giant.
The
world's top handset maker starts selling the much-anticipated device in
South Korea on Friday, followed by a global roll-out at the weekend.
The
S4, armed with eye motion control technology that will pause a video
when the user looks away, comes with a faster chip and is thinner and
lighter than the previous S3 model.
It
features a high-definition, five-inch (12.7-centimetre) screen,
enhanced picture-taking capabilities and the capacity to translate to
and from nine languages. It also recognises touch by users wearing
gloves.
The
device was unveiled last month at a glitzy event at New York's Radio
City Music Hall -- reflecting Samsung's desire to expand its presence in
the high-end US market against arch rival Apple and its iconic iPhone.
After
years of following and refining the iPhone's pioneering innovations -- a
strategy that resulted in bitter patent battles with Apple -- Samsung
has dethroned Apple to become the world's top smartphone maker.
Samsung
did not give a sales target at a press event Thursday, but Kim said he
anticipated global sales would "outpace" those of the popular S3.
Back
in January, Samsung said it had shifted more than 41 million Galaxy S3
units since its market debut last May. Analysts and market observers
estimate that figure is now close to 60 million units.
The
S4 release has been preceded by a massive promotional campaign -- from
the launch in New York to lighting up the sails of Sydney's iconic opera
house on Tuesday.
