MANILA, Philippines - Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd. announced that sales of the Samsung Star, its hugely popular touch-screen mobile phone, surpassed the five-million mark this month.
The Star (model number S5230), launched first in Europe last May, is the fastest model in Samsung’s history to reach the milestone.
One million of the touch-screen devices were sold in the first month and a half alone, after which the company expanded sales efforts to include markets in CIS, Southeast and Southwest Asia, East-Central Africa, China, and Central America.
More than 700,000 units of the Star were sold in May and more than 900,000 in July. Monthly sales in August and September were 1.6 million and 1.8 million, respectively.
Based on the current trend, Samsung projects total cumulative sales to reach 10 million globally by November.
“We’re very pleased by this success,” said Young-hee Lee, vice president for marketing of Samsung Electronics’ Mobile Communications Division.
“We see the demand for touch-screen phones increasing and we will continue to offer consumers a diverse range of products, supported by unique marketing campaigns,” Young-hee added.
The Star has sold particularly well in Europe, where Samsung has sold more than 2.8 million units, topping sales lists in key markets such as France, the United Kingdom, the Netherlands and Italy.
The Star was launched as an affordable mobile phone, appealing to young consumers with its slim, 11.9-mm body and three-inch WQVGA touch screen.
It also boasts high-tech features such as Samsung’s exclusive high-quality sound technology DNSe as well as a SmileShot-enabled 3.2-megapixel camera and Bluetooth v2.1.
Thanks to Samsung’s TouchWiz user interface with mobile widgets, the phone enables its users to access features easily and intuitively. Using “Photo Contact,” users can call a contact by simply touching an appointed image.
The Star supports multi-format and DNSe for ease of use and enhanced sound quality. It also features music recognition using Shazam’s “Find Music” service.
To allow users to store diverse multimedia content, the Star has 50MB of internal memory with an external memory slot for up to 8GB.
Samsung Star users can enjoy full Internet browsing, with an accelerometer sensor allowing the onscreen image to automatically adjust as you rotate the phone.
For convenience, the phone also supports an onscreen QWERTY keyboard, “Smart Unlock,” and handwriting features.
The Star’s global success can be attributed in part to its sleek design, interactive and user-friendly UI, and its reasonable price point.
To drive sales, Samsung also launched active marketing programs in emerging markets where the phone is being sold, tailoring its activities, such as experimental Mobile Live events and outdoor marketing, to specific trends in those countries.