In late September, Samsung expressed some concerns about the strong global launch and favorable customer reception of the Apple iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus, with one official commenting, “The positive reaction from consumers to those two Apple devices prompted us to launch the Note 4 earlier than previously scheduled.”
According to a fresh report from the Wall Street Journal, those concerns were definitely warranted. Pre-orders for the iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus commenced in South Korea this past Friday. KT Corp. scored 50,000 orders within the first thirty minutes of availability, while rival LG Uplus Corp. received 20,000 orders in just 20 minutes.
SK Telecom Co. didn’t provide specific figures for its pre-order sales, but analysts estimate that the three carriers together secured around 100,000 orders for Apple’s latest smartphones.
That 100,000-unit figure far surpasses that of Samsung’s Galaxy Note 4 when it launched last month in South Korea. An estimated 30,000 units of the Galaxy Note 4 were pre-ordered via South Korea’s three wireless carriers during a similar time period.
But even with this strong showing by Apple in South Korea with the iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus, the company’s overall market share still pales in comparison to Samsung (which has home field advantage). Samsung holds 63 percent of smartphone market in South Korea, while rival LG Electronics is well behind with 22 percent. Apple has just 6 percent of the South Korean market.