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| Participants of Samsung Electronics' Galaxy Fan Party line up in Busan, Aug. 14, 2018. Celebrating the launch of the Galaxy S10, the firm will hold the Galaxy Fan Party in major cities from Feb. 28 to March 16. / Courtesy of Samsung Electronics |
By Baek Byung-yeul
Samsung Electronics will hold a series of fan party events across the country to celebrate the 10th anniversary of its Galaxy brand and the launch of its latest high-end smartphone Galaxy S10, the firm said Monday.
Samsung is set to unveil the Galaxy S10 in San Francisco on Wednesday. After the announcement, the firm is expected to begin receiving pre-orders starting Feb. 25 and officially roll out the phone here on March 8.
The firm announced the party event titled Galaxy Fan Party will be held in major cities including Seoul, Busan, Daegu, Gwangju and Daejeon. Samsung said the Galaxy Fan Party is for customers who have spent the past 10 years using Galaxy smartphones.
The Galaxy Fan Party is designed to share how to use major functions of the new Galaxy device, according to the firm. This is the third event of its kind celebrating new Galaxy devices. Samsung held two fan party events in 2018 when launching the Galaxy S9 in March and the Galaxy Note 9 in August.
The first Galaxy Fan Party will be held at Gemstone cafe in Busan on Feb. 28. After that there will be Gwangju event on March 2, Seoul on March 8, Daejeon on March 15, and Daegu on March 16.
Rap singer Zico will work as a producer of the event and one-man pop act 10cm will announce a new song celebrating the 10th anniversary of the Galaxy brand. The firm is currently receiving RSVPs for the event through its Facebook page.
Besides the fan party event, Samsung is also strengthening marketing efforts in the United States, opening Apple Store-like retail stores called the Samsung Experience Store.
On the occasion of the announcement of the Galaxy S10, the firm said it will open three Samsung Experience Stores in Los Angeles, Houston and New York on Feb. 20. In addition to the opening of the new retail stores, the firm said it plans to have a "pop-up tour" to promote its Galaxy smartphones, starting in March.
For Samsung, much is riding on the success of the Galaxy S10.
Due to the increased replacement cycle of smartphones, phone manufacturers in the world saw a decrease in sales in 2018.
The Korean firm is still occupying the top place with a global market share of 18.6 percent as of the fourth quarter of 2018, according to data by market tracker TrendForce. But Samsung has faced a slew of challenges from Chinese phonemakers and its global smartphone sales fell below 300 million in 2018 for the first time since 2013. TrendForce also forecasted Samsung's total smartphone production volume will remain at 70 million in the first quarter of 2019.
The Galaxy S10 is expected to come in three models ― the Galaxy S10e, S10 and S10 Plus, depending on screen size, battery capacity and some other features. Samsung will also unveil its first foldable smartphone which will also run on the fifth-generation (5G) network.
