Samsung didn't agree to launch the Galaxy S5 tomorrow (in South Korea)

The Korea Times reported that Samsungsquarely denied yesterday's rumor about a possible early launch forthe Galaxy S5. After a weekly meeting of Samsung's board ofdirectors, JK Shin (pictured), co-CEO and head of the company's mobile division,told reporters that “Samsung hasn’t agreed with SK Telecom foran early release of our GS5 to only SK Telecom customers."

It appears that the two companies wereindeed discussing to launch the handset early, on March 27 (thisThursday), possibly as an exclusive to SK Telecom. That would havebeen in order to circumvent impending government bans onsmartphone sales in South Korea, a measure detrimental to Samsung,local carriers, and ultimately, customers.

Apparently, the talks went as far as tomake SK Telecom prepare an official statement in advance, which wasto notify customers about the Galaxy S5 being available from March27. The plan had been approved by the telecom's top management, butcanceled after Samsung announced its decision to not cooperate withthe carrier.

Although Mr. Shin didn't explicitlydeny that the Galaxy S5 won't be out earlier in other countries, orfor other telecoms, it feels naive to think about the possibility ofa South Korean or global launch tomorrow. If this was the case, wereckon the announcement would have came earlier. Although the GalaxyS5 will have launch events across some countries (such as India andMalaysia) on March 27, as far as we know, the smartphone will startselling everywhere from April 11, as originally planned. The globalrollout will cover 150 countries, although South Korean customerswill have very limited options to get the phone until prohibitionends.

source: TheKorea Times via GFor Games