Samsung is the largest electronic gadget and has its main office in Gyeongsangbuk-do, South Korea. After the incident happened on its flagship smartphone, Apple iPhone 7 and iPhone 7 Plus went on sale in South Korea today. Is apple seeking to fill a void left by its rival company?
The South Korean company halted the production and sales of the Galaxy Note 7 on October 11 following reports that replacements for combustible models were also catching fire. This decision cost Samsung billions in lost profits and there are already signs that Apple is reaping some of the benefits.
In an interview made by The Indian Express, an official at mobile carrier Korea Telecom (KT) said that the first batch of 50,000 iPhone 7s they put up for pre-order a week ago sold out in 15 minutes.
"I would attribute part of that to the Note 7 effect," said the official from KT.
James Oh, who has a Samsung Galaxy S for work and an Apple iPhone for personal use, was one of the thousands to book an iPhone 7 when preorders opened last Friday.
In the hope of retaining customer loyalty, Samsung decided to offer Galaxy Note 7 users a 70,000 KRW (60 USD) phone bill credit if they swapped their faulty phones with another Samsung handset. But not all owners find it worth and rather switch to Apple's iPhone.
The retail prices for the Apple's 32 GB iPhone 7 and 7 Plus start from 869,000 KRW and 1.02 million KRW respectively.
Apple Store in South Korea
The tight competition between Apple and Samsung may be about to intensify: the WSJ reports that the iPhone maker is considering opening up an Apple Store very close to Samsung's HQ in Seoul, South Korea.
The company is said to be focusing on searching a great location in Gangnam market area. Gangnam is a popular place in Korea which is known to have the city's busiest subway station as well as Samsung's headquarters. Apple company is also exploring a possible site on the fashionable area f Sinsa-dong, Garosu-gil shopping street.
