Rumor: Samsung to launch the Android-powered Galaxy S superphone in 110 countries simultaneously

Greg Kumparak

Greg Kumparak is the Mobile Editor at Techcrunch. Greg has been writing for the TechCrunch network since May of 2008. Greg was born just outside of San Jose, and now lives in the East Bay of California. → Learn More

Tuesday, June 1st, 2010

In the grand world of electronics, it’s pretty much customary to launch in one country, wait a few days, launch in another, and so on. At most, companies launch their new toys in two or three countries at a time – it’s just really the only sane way to do it, you know?

Remind me not to ever call Samsung sane.

According to a Korea Times report from this morning, ol’ Sammie is planning on launching the Galaxy S in not one, not twelve, but one hundred and ten countries around the world on the same day. To put that in perspective: there are only 192 (or 195, depending on who’s counting) countries in the world. If Korea Times’ report pans out, Samsung’s going to be attempting to launch a handset in roughly 57% of the world simultaneously.

On one hand, it’s a clever move; as the Android space starts filling up, it’s getting harder and harder to standout. By pinning a worldwide launch on one day, they can dump money into playing up that one day’s importance in a global, unified advertising campaign. On the other hand, it introduces one hell of a lot of points of failure. Launch day stories leave lasting impressions, setting people’s perceptions of a device in stone.

Go big or go home, right?

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