Samsung Galaxy S III Launches Despite Reports of Delays

News
By Jane McEntegart
published

Despite delays in some regions, Samsung's Galaxy S III is finally on sale.

The anticipation for the arrival of the Galaxy S III has been building for months and today, a total of 26 days after the phone was unveiled, it finally arrived. The Galaxy S III went on sale in a total of 28 countries today. This includes the United Kingdom, France, UAE, and Saudi Arabia as well the Middle East and Africa. Though the UK's official release date isn't until tomorrow, customers who pre-ordered at selected locations were able to pick up their phone this evening.

The news follows word that some retailers and carriers in the UK were sending out notifications to those that had pre-ordered the device to say it had been delayed. Originally it was thought that just the blue version had been delayed, but a blog post published by retailer Clove said it had received notice from Samsung that stock of both the white and blue models of Galaxy S III had been delayed.

Clove's website still says that the phone won't be shipping until June 1, which is Friday, and Vodafone has warned customers that the pebble blue Galaxy S III might not make it to stores for another two to four weeks. As for Samsung, a rep confirmed the delays with Pocket-Lint, blaming a new manufacturing process for the blue-coloured phone for the delay.

"Samsung's Galaxy S III pebble blue version comes with a newly invented blue colour and special hyperglaze material," the manufacturer said. "In order to meet the highest internal quality standards and to provide the best quality Galaxy S III to customers, a short supply of pebble blue version is expected in some regions in the next 2-3 weeks."

The last time we heard of a company having problems producing its flagship device in another color was Apple's white iPhone. In the end, the white iPhone wasn't launched for nearly a year after the black model hit stores.

Samsung hasn't mentioned if this will affect the U.S. launch of the device, or any other country's launch for that matter. However, the phone is expected to arrive in North America by July.

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Jane McEntegart
11 Comments Comment from the forums
  • clivene09
    The US uses different 4G protocols from the rest of the world. In fact, everything about the way our cell service works is pretty much different. Hence we wind up waiting most of the time.
    Reply
  • nuvon
    Maybe Samsung wants these countries to find out the glitches first before selling it in the US. You know, Americans are particularly good at complaining (or whining)....just about everything....
    Reply
  • dalethepcman
    clivene09The US uses different 4G protocols from the rest of the world. In fact, everything about the way our cell service works is pretty much different. Hence we wind up waiting most of the time.
    Lies... Most phones (including the SGS3) now use quad band HSPA+ transmitters (900/1800 + 850/1900) which work on a near global scale, excluding Japan and south korea since they are the only non GSM countries in the world. The LTE \ CDMA version of the galaxy S 3 also uses a quad band antenna that functions on a global basis should you happen to be in South Korea or Japan or on a carrier that has an LTE network.

    The reason for delays in the US is because it takes the carriers and the government time to test the replacement of CarrierIQ and make sure its working correctly and more difficult for users to locate.
    Reply
  • AidanJC
    Waiting for this to come out in Australia.

    Bye bye iPhone, it's time for me to move on to something else. :(
    Reply
  • amk-aka-Phantom
    frozonici tough the same thing! i mean... what do they think we are? mexico or something?
    You're the country of indoctrinated Apple users who can't value good hardware for $h!t. Not all of you, but the majority. What's the point trying to push the SGS3 to the US first if everyone there goes "OMG new iPad, must buy, herp derp!" before even considering a product of another manufacturer?

    And get used to it, the US is not the center of the world and this trend will only be more expressed in the future; everyone is tired of their patent wars, restrictions, stupid customers and so on. "Third world countries" is where it's at today, and not just sales-wise.

    soldier37Wow Africa gets the S3 before the US does how awesome is that! !! Way to go Samsung!
    Way to go indeed, since 90% of the phone users in the US are stuck with a dumb-a$$ "contract", a technique which is NOT used in the East at all because no one wants to be stuck with the same phone for two years and pay more in the end. So many people wouldn't even shift to SGS3 since they already have a "contract" with some other phone.
    Reply
  • blackns
    soldier37Wow Africa gets the S3 before the US does how awesome is that! !! Way to go Samsung!right...because they are SO inferior to america! *claps hands for ignorance*
    Reply
  • jimmysmitty
    9371048 said:
    right...because they are SO inferior to america! *claps hands for ignorance*

    I think its more of a buying power thing. The majority of Africa is not like the majority of the US. The majority of the US will buy what they do not need. Depending on the country, Africa could be decent, well off or mostly land with mostly poor people controlled by rich war mongers.

    I understand Europe or Asia. Their regulations are not a strict as here. Thats why they also have better cars than we do (wish I had a Australian Ford FPV F6 Typhoon.....). But again it is strange. It might be the same case of lesser restrictions.
    Reply
  • house70
    amk-aka-phantomYou're the country of indoctrinated Apple users who can't value good hardware for $h!t. Not all of you, but the majority. What's the point trying to push the SGS3 to the US first if everyone there goes "OMG new iPad, must buy, herp derp!" before even considering a product of another manufacturer?And get used to it, the US is not the center of the world and this trend will only be more expressed in the future; everyone is tired of their patent wars, restrictions, stupid customers and so on. "Third world countries" is where it's at today, and not just sales-wise.Way to go indeed, since 90% of the phone users in the US are stuck with a dumb-a$$ "contract", a technique which is NOT used in the East at all because no one wants to be stuck with the same phone for two years and pay more in the end. So many people wouldn't even shift to SGS3 since they already have a "contract" with some other phone.I am humbled to admit it, but you might be right...
    dalethepcmanLies... Most phones (including the SGS3) now use quad band HSPA+ transmitters (900/1800 + 850/1900) which work on a near global scale, excluding Japan and south korea since they are the only non GSM countries in the world. The LTE \ CDMA version of the galaxy S 3 also uses a quad band antenna that functions on a global basis should you happen to be in South Korea or Japan or on a carrier that has an LTE network.The reason for delays in the US is because it takes the carriers and the government time to test the replacement of CarrierIQ and make sure its working correctly and more difficult for users to locate.They need time to make sure the carriers' bloatware and spyware works well with the rest of the package...
    Reply
  • del35
    Indeed American are way behind the curve when it comes to phones. The lockyoudown contracts of the major phone carriers is a case in point. Most people here have no clue what an unlocked phone is. Sad situation and so reminiscent of how Apple jails and herds its clueless zombies.

    Dont blame Samsung for releasing perhaps the world's best phone to date abroad first. In contrast, when trashpple releases its iPhone 5 here, there is not doubt the narrowly owned MSM will make a big deal of it regardless of its worth, which if we judge from the iPhone 4s will not be much.

    So yes Samsung should keep its jewels from the swines for a while longer. Let the iPhone 5 be released amongst the locust, and let the formorons hype that will surround the iPhone 5 with its "innovative and magical 4 inch retina display" manufactured by Samsung die down first.





    Reply
  • zetzabre
    amk-aka-phantomYou're the country of indoctrinated Apple users who can't value good hardware for $h!t. Not all of you, but the majority. What's the point trying to push the SGS3 to the US first if everyone there goes "OMG new iPad, must buy, herp derp!" before even considering a product of another manufacturer?And get used to it, the US is not the center of the world and this trend will only be more expressed in the future; everyone is tired of their patent wars, restrictions, stupid customers and so on. "Third world countries" is where it's at today, and not just sales-wise.Way to go indeed, since 90% of the phone users in the US are stuck with a dumb-a$$ "contract", a technique which is NOT used in the East at all because no one wants to be stuck with the same phone for two years and pay more in the end. So many people wouldn't even shift to SGS3 since they already have a "contract" with some other phone.
    Little girl, Don't be so pissed. What Frozonic said is true: Mexico is considered a low country. I'm from Peru, i live inn a third world country and i understand the facts.

    Anyway, Samsung will get to both US and latin-american countries, so we have to be patient. And i don' think americans are stupid (not all of them at least). So be a good girl and keep your silly hate for yourself.
    Reply