The Samsung Galaxy S4 launch in the US will be affected by supply issues, according to American carriers Sprint and T-Mobile.
Such distribution problems have been attributed to an overwhelming demand for the latest Samsung flagship, but it will mean that the US roll-out from T-Mobile and Sprint will be later than expected.
“Due to overwhelming global demand of Galaxy S4, the initial supply may be limited. We expect to fulfil inventory to meet demands in the coming weeks,” said Samsung in a statement.
The Samsung Galaxy S4 release date is this Friday, April 26 in the US and UK, but online orders on the American T-Mobile website now start from Monday April 29. The delayed launch date is due to “an unexpected delay with inventory deliveries.”
Online orders from Sprint begin from Saturday April 27 as planned, but the handset’s availability in retail stores will only start when the network provider has enough stock.
“We had planned to launch this next generation of the award-winning Samsung Galaxy lineup on Saturday,” said US network provider Sprint. “Unfortunately, due to unexpected inventory challenges from Samsung, we will be slightly delayed with our full product launch.”
On the other hand, competing American carrier AT&T confirmed it would be selling the Samsung Galaxy S4 from Saturday as planned.
“Demand is far stronger than we had expected and as a result we are having difficulties in fully meeting initial supply requests,” said Samsung Mobile’s Head of Sales and Marketing Lee Don-joo to reporters in Seoul, South Korea.
Analysts predict that the Samsung Galaxy S4 flagship smartphone could surpass 10 million unit sales within the first month after it launches. However, if the handset suffers from delays or issues with components it could mean disaster.
In the month after the Samsung Galaxy S3 launched in May 2012, Samsung incurred 2 million units of lost sales due to a manufacturing error that left the devices’ cases unfit for sale.
Via: Guardian
