Galaxy foldable smartphones-domestic sales

▲ This file photo taken Aug. 23, 2021, shows Samsung Electronics Co.'s Galaxy Z Fold3 and Galaxy Z Flip3 smartphones displayed at a store in Seoul. (Yonhap)

Galaxy foldable smartphones-domestic sales

Domestic sales of Samsung's new foldable smartphones top 1 mln units

SEOUL, Oct. 6 (Yonhap) -- Domestic sales of Samsung Electronics Co.'s new foldable smartphones -- the Galaxy Z Fold3 and the Galaxy Z Flip3 -- have surpassed 1 million units, the company said Wednesday, as the tech giant strives to popularize the foldable category.

The third generation of the Galaxy Z series topped the 1 million sales milestone Monday, which is just 39 days after its launch, according to Samsung.

It was the third fastest sales pace to exceed the 1 million sales mark in South Korea after the Galaxy Note 10 and the Galaxy S8.

Samsung said unlocked phones represented 20 percent of sales and 58 percent of them were purchased through online channels.

By model, the clamshell-type Z Flip3 accounted for 70 percent of sales. Samsung said 54 percent of people who purchased the Z Flip3 were from the "MZ generation," a Korean term referring to millennials and Generation Z.

Cream was the most selected color for the Z Flip3 by domestic consumers followed by lavender.

For the Z Fold3, which folds in half like a book, phantom black was the most picked color, and a model with 512GB storage capacity accounted for 40 percent of its sales, according to Samsung.

Preorders for new Galaxy Z smartphones reached 920,000 units in a seven-day reservation period here, and 270,000 of them were activated on the first day of the preactivation period, a record number for any smartphone device in South Korea.

Due to their high popularity, Samsung even had to extend the early activation period of preordered Galaxy Z smartphones.

To better boost its sales, Samsung said it decided to extend a special trade-in program, in which people can exchange their old phones for the newest Galaxy Z series, through Oct. 31. The tech giant said owners of Apple's smartphones, including the iPhone XS and the iPhone XR, can also apply for the program.

Both the Z Fold3 and the Z Flip3, powered by a 5-nanometer application processor, were launched with lower price tags compared with their predecessors, as Samsung strives to mainstream the foldable smartphone category and beef up its presence in the premium market.

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