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The iPhone 6 is already proving hotter than the Galaxy Note 4 in Samsung’s home base of South Korea, according to preorder data cited by the Wall Street Journal.
Apple’s latest iPhones hit the preorder stage last Friday with all three of the country’s mobile carriers jumping in to take orders. Two of the carriers had reported preorder numbers in the tens of thousands in just under an hour, the Journal reported Monday, surpassing the numbers for Samsung’s Galaxy Note 4 over a similar time frame in September.
The high preorder numbers in South Korea continue a trend seen in other countries. In the US and several other markets, initial iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus preorders reached a record 4 million in just 24 hours on September 12. In China, preorders for the new phones reportedly shot past 20 million over three days.
In mid-October, Apple announced that latest iPhone will sail to 36 more regions before month’s end to reach 69 markets altogether. The company plans to expand the phone to 115 countries by year’s end, which Apple said would be the fastest iPhone rollout yet.
In South Korea, the iPhone 6 officially will go on sale Friday. On the same day, sales will also launch in Albania, Bosnia, Croatia, Estonia, Greece, Guam, Hungary, Iceland, Kosovo, Latvia, Lithuania, Macau, Macedonia, Mexico, Moldova, Montenegro, Serbia, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Ukraine and Thailand.
Among the three South Korean carriers, KT Corp said that the iPhone 6 and 6 Plus models captured 10,000 preorders in just one minute, then surpassed 50,000 in 30 minutes, the Journal reported. Fellow carrier LG Uplus, which is a newcomer to the iPhone, said it counted 20,000 preorders for the phone in 20 minutes.
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SK Telecom, South Korea’s largest mobile provider, wouldn’t reveal specific numbers but told the Journal that both the first and second batch of iPhone 6 presales have been fully booked. A third round was slated to start Monday morning.
Counting the specific numbers from KT Corp and LG Uplus and likely estimating the ones from SK Telecom, analysts believe that total presales for the new iPhones have hit around 100,000 in South Korea. That figure tops the estimated 30,000 preorders for Samsung’s Galaxy Note 4 seen last month over a similar period of time. A spokesman for LG Uplus confirmed to the Journal that the pace of preorders for the Note 4 hasn’t matched that of the iPhone 6.
However, Samsung still is by far the dominant mobile phone player in South Korea with no immediate danger of being knocked off its throne. The company owns 63 percent of the market in its home country, said the Journal, citing data from Counterpoint Research. In fourth place, Apple accounts for just 4 percent of the mobile phone market in South Korea.
Apple did not immediately respond to CNET’s request for comment.
Correction, 10:13 a.m. PT: This story earlier misstated the source of the information on the iPhone preorders in South Korea. Those numbers came via the Wall Street Journal.
