Galaxy Note 20 sells 258,000 phones on first day

The Galaxy Note 20, Samsung Electronics’ flagship smartphone for the latter half of the year, recorded the highest sales on the first day even amid the spread of COVID-19. All eyes are on the Galaxy Note 20 to see if it can still enjoy a market success after it is officially launched on Friday.

Samsung Electronics announced on Sunday that it sold 258,000 units of the Galaxy Note 20 to preorder clients on the first day of service opening last Friday, a 10-percent rise from the previous model Galaxy Note 10 released last year. Samsung Electronics’ latest smartphone even overpassed the Galaxy S8 that sold 250,000 units on its first day in 2017.

Industry pundits analyze that Samsung Electronics’ strategy worked out by maximizing user convenience and friendliness in the Galaxy Note 20 even with demand for high-end flagship smartphones on the decline during the COVID-19 pandemic. The S Pen in the latest model is faster by over 80 percent than the previous one’s. Also, documents written on "Samsung Notes” are shared and synced with any other device into which a Samsung account is logged, making the features of the Note Series all the more attractive.

Another attribute to the success of the Galaxy Note 20 is the South Korean tech giant's project to set up and run a type of an offline zone titled "Galaxy Studio” for user experience before purchase. Latest wireless earphones "Galaxy Buds Live” were delivered as a free gift to preorder clients, contributing to the smartphone's hit in the market.


Dong-Jun Heo hungry@donga.com