Fresh after the exploding battery debacle of its previous model -- the Note 7 -- Samsung Electronics Co Ltd. (OTC:SSNLF) has officially moved on. Its newest smartphone, the Galaxy S8, hit retail shelves on Friday.
The Galaxy S8 has garnered rave reviews from pundits thus far. They have praised the new model’s new screen-first design, dubbed "infinity", which maximizes the size of the display. Samsung did this by making the top and bottom bezels of the phone much smaller than before as well as using a curved design on the edges of the device.
Samsung also made its newest phone with a largely equivalent screen versus the newest iPhone model, while making the unit itself narrower than competing phones.
The newest Galaxy model also comes with a powerful processor, expandable storage, two decent cameras, and wireless charging capabilities. Other notable features include the Bixby assistant (which will come soon as a software update) and new navigation keys.
The question remains: will this new phone help Samsung retain its leadership in the smartphone market, or is the Note 7 disaster still too fresh in customer minds?
Perhaps Samsung’s home country can give us a hint. The model has been available for pre-order in South Korea for a few weeks now, and numbers have been strong. Pre-sales surpassed one million units in the first 10 days. No other Samsung smartphone has ever seen such strong advance sales in the company’s home nation.
