Pre-orders for Samsung Electronics’ strategic smartphone Galaxy S, slated for domestic release on June 8, stand at one million units, portending that it will be a hit.

According to Samsung Electronics and the telecommunication industry on Thursday, the number of Galaxy S pre-orders received from global mobile carriers amounts to nearly one million. This is attributable to Samsung Electronics’ signing of unprecedented large-scale agreements to supply its Galaxy S smartphones to 100 countries and 110 mobile carriers. The figure strikingly surpasses the number of countries where Apple’s iPhone was launched (84 countries).

The slim 9.9 mm Galaxy S runs Google's Android 2.1 operating system and has a 4-inch super AMOLED screen. It has the best specifications among all currently existing smartphones.

The Galaxy S, first introduced in Singapore last month, will be rolled out in other countries in several stages, starting from early this month. A launching ceremony for the Galaxy S was held in Switzerland on June 2 (local time), making inroads into Europe, the world’s largest market for mobile phones.

Major global mobile carriers with which Samsung Electronics established supply agreements include British company Vodafone, Orange in France, SingTel in Singapore, Japan’s NTT DoCoMo, Deutsche Telecom in Germany and Spain's Telefonica. In the United States, Samsung Electronics signed supply contracts with the four major operators, namely AT&T, Verizon, Sprint and T-Mobile. It aims to provide its Galaxy S to mobile operators in emerging markets, such as India, Central and South America as well as Russia’s MTS.

Unable to find an Android-based phone that could compete with Apple's iPhone, global telecommunications firms have chosen Samsung's Galaxy S.

After the introduction of Galaxy S at the "CTIA 2010" in Las Vegas last March, the phone has received favorable reputations from major IT journals over the world. Once equipped with applications specific to South Korea and the T-DMB(Terrestrial Digital Multimedia Broadcasting) feature, Galaxy S will enter the market through SK Telecommunications and become available for purchase after June 14.

[Si-young Hwang - Yoojung Lee, Narai Ahn / edited by Soyoung Chung]