Samsung Galaxy S9 first day pre-orders down 30% compared to Galaxy S8

Bad news for Samsung, as pre-orders for its new Galaxy S9 series are just 70% of the predecessor, a South Korean publication reports. The numbers from the first day indicated that pre-orders of the Galaxy S9 in South Korea are down 30% compared to the previous model.

Sources familiar with the matter say that only 180,000 Galaxy S9 units were distributed via South Korea's main three carriers during the first day of pre-orders, whereas last year Samsung managed to sell 260,000 Galaxy S8 series phones.

Samsung has yet to announce any sales figures but industry watchers claim that the performance of the Galaxy S9 series would be around 70-80% of the predecessor due to lack of innovative features.

The Galaxy S9 and S9+ are already available for pre-order in all key markets across the globe, but the smartphones will not hit shelves until March 16. However, the South Korean handset maker confirmed it will ship the flagships one week earlier in some countries.