Samsung's Galaxy S8 to hit shelves in Japan next month

Samsung Electronics Co. said Sunday it will release its flagship Galaxy S8 smartphones in Japan next month in hopes that they will help revitalize its brand reputation tainted by the ill-fated Galaxy Note 7 and expand its presence in one of Asia's largest markets currently dominated by Apple Inc.
Samsung's Galaxy S8 to hit shelves in Japan next month

The South Korean tech giant will hold a series of promotion events in Japan for the Galaxy S8 and the Galaxy S8 Plus.

The official release is presumed to be early June. The flagship devices already went on sale in South Korea, China and the United States.

Samsung, however, may face hurdles in promoting the Galaxy S8 in Japan as the Japanese smartphone market is dominated by Apple Inc.

In the first quarter of the year, Samsung sold some 300,000 smartphones in Japan to account for 3.8 percent of the market share.

In 2012, Samsung's presence was 14.8 percent, but it lost ground since then in the face of growing competition with Apple, whose market share topped 50 percent.

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