AT&T Taking Galaxy S4 Orders, As Sprint Calls Out Samsung Supply Delay
Samsung’s Galaxy S4 powerhouse smartphone, targeted for delivery this week, is already causing market confusion before release by most carriers. Following online reports of delays in the much-hyped launch of the Samsung Galaxy S4 via Sprint and T-Mobile due to supply problems, Sprint confirmed in a news release Wednesday that it will be “slightly delayed” with its full product launch of the phone due to “unexpected inventory challenges from Samsung.”
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AT&T had phones in stock Wednesday, according to an agent using the website’s chat feature. AT&T Wireless showed the 16 GB version Wednesday for $199 with two-year contract “web only,” and the agent confirmed that the carrier had the S4 in stock.
Sprint said it’s “working closely” with Samsung to launch in all Sprint channels “as soon as possible.” Sprint expects to make Galaxy S4 available at www.sprint.com and Telesales (1-800-SPRINT1) as planned Saturday, with Sprint retail stores and other channels receiving devices “as inventory becomes available.” Sprint’s pre-order option on the website Wednesday afternoon was “closed.” A Sprint spokesman told us the company isn’t sharing pre-order numbers.
Samsung issued a statement following Sprint’s announcement saying: “Due to overwhelming global demand of Galaxy S4, the initial supply may be limited. We expect to fulfill inventory to meet demands in the coming weeks.” A Samsung spokeswoman told us availability of the S4 varies by carrier. On how it was determined which carriers would get the S4, which is launching through all the major carriers in the U.S., a Samsung spokeswoman said the statement was the only comment Samsung was making then.
The T-Mobile splash page Wednesday didn’t feature the S4, instead promoting the iPhone 5, BlackBerry Z10 and HTC One, and there was no option to pre-order the S4. The best Samsung smartphone option was a 16 GB version of the S III listing for $69 with a $20 monthly payment over 24 months. US Cellular was taking pre-orders for the S4 Wednesday. An agent on chat told us the phone would be available “at the end of the month.” Preordering at Verizon Wireless begins Thursday, a spokesman told us, with availability in all channels on May 30. “That’s the only date we have been given and it still stands,” he said.
Reviews for the S4 vary according to the tech level of the audience, we found. Mashable called it “one of the best Galaxy products to date,” one of reviewer Christina Warren’s “favorite Android smartphones ever.” That said, she said reviewing the Galaxy S4 wasn’t an easy task, “not because the phone is bad -- far from it” -- but because the phone has “so many new features in both software and hardware, it’s hard to know where to start and when to stop talking."
That could create problems for the phone with mainstream users. Foxnews.com called the S4 “a powerful, giant, confusing smartphone.” Citing “more features than Batman’s belt has gadgets, the do-anything Samsung Galaxy S4 is an elegant, powerful smartphone as likely to confound as it is to amaze,” said reviewer Jeremy Kaplan. USA Today reviewer Edward Baig referred to new features that “come off as ‘look what we can do’ as opposed to ‘look how we can make your experience better.'”