The Apple iPhone 7 went on sale in South Korea on Friday, seeking to fill a void left by arch-rivalSamsung 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.
"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
Rs. 58,087
Display
4.70-inchProcessor
quad-coreFront Camera
7-megapixelResolution
750x1334 pixelsRAM
2GBOS
iOS 10Storage
32GBRear Camera
12-megapixelBattery capacity
1960mAh
See full Apple iPhone 7 specifications
BUY AT
Rs. 58,087- Rs. 59,970
- Rs. 60,000
Apple iPhone 7 Plus
Rs. 71,990
Display
5.50-inchProcessor
quad-coreFront Camera
7-megapixelResolution
1080x1920 pixelsRAM
3GBOS
iOS 10Storage
32GBRear Camera
12-megapixelBattery capacity
2900mAh
See full Apple iPhone 7 Plus specifications
BUY AT
- Rs. 71,990
- Rs. 72,000
- Rs. 72,000
Samsung Galaxy Note7
Display
5.70-inchProcessor
1.6GHzFront Camera
5-megapixelResolution
1440x2560 pixelsRAM
4GBOS
Android 6.0.1Storage
64GBRear Camera
12-megapixelBattery capacity
3500mAh
See full Samsung Galaxy Note7 specifications
Also See
- Rs. 18,399
- Rs. 9,990
- Rs. 7,990
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