Carriers unveil prices for S6, S6 Edge

The much-anticipated Galaxy S6 and S6 Edge flagship smartphones from Samsung Electronics will carry price tags of 858,000 won ($778) and 979,000 won for the 32-gigabyte models, according to the three mobile carriers on Wednesday.

For 64 gigabytes of storage, the S6 will cost 924,000 won and the S6 Edge, with never-before-seen curved screens on both sides, 1,056,000 won.

The latter will shatter consumers’ psychological barrier of 1 million won for a smartphone.

Prices for the biggest 128-gigabyte models have yet to be announced, and the two models will not be immediately available, given the expected low demand, said the three carriers.

The price for the 32-gigabyte S6 is 8,800 won less than that of the S5 with the same storage capacity.

SK Telecom, KT and LG U+ began accepting pre-orders on Wednesday in Korea and 19 other countries.

Subscribers here will be eligible for subsidies of up to 300,000 won.

In Dubai and India, where pre-orders began hours earlier than in Korea, a 32-gigabyte Galaxy S6 will sell for the equivalent of 894,000 won after conversion, more expensive than in Korea.

In tandem with accepting pre-orders for the two new signature phones that will compete with Apple’s iPhone 6, Samsung Electronics began showcasing them at 16 department stores nationwide on Wednesday, an unprecedented marketing event aimed at promoting Galaxy’s high-end image.

In a related effort, Samsung on March 24 hosted a fashion show by five different teams of top-notch Korean designers featuring the new devices on the sidelines of Seoul Fashion Week.

BY SEO JI-EUN [seo.jieun@joongang.co.kr]