Afraid of Apple’s iPhone 6, Samsung pushes up Galaxy Note 4 launch

Samsung failed to properly react to the iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus launch – the company inexplicably delayed announcing launch details for the Galaxy Note 4 model even though it announced the device almost a week before Apple unveiled its biggest iPhones ever – and a new report from South Korea reveals that Apple’s record iPhone sales have really scared the giant. As a result, Samsung will push up the launch date of the fourth-generation phablet, at least in South Korea, The Korea Times reports.

According to the publication, Samsung top management is “unhappy” about Apple’s record iPhone 6 launch sales.

“The positive reaction from consumers to those two Apple devices prompted us to launch the Note 4 earlier than previously scheduled. Samsung will be aggressive in promoting the Note 4 as it’s true that we are being challenged and pressured amid a difficult situation,” an unnamed Samsung exec is quoted as having said.

What’s more interesting is that Samsung has a more than ambitious sales goal for theGalaxy Note 4 this year, considering that it already knew that for the first time ever its newest phablet would have a similarly sized iOS rival in stores.

“Samsung aims to ship 15 million Note 4s in the first 30 days after the product launches, which is very ambitious given the challenging situation,” a different Samsung official said. It took Samsung two months last year to sell 10 million Galaxy Note 3 units.

Things appear to be looking good for Samsung so far, as all South Korean carriers have stopped preorders for the Galaxy Note 4, as the handset sold out already in the region. However, it’s not clear how many units Samsung may have had on hand for the local preorders.

Samsung will hold a special conference on Thursday in its home country to announce that the Galaxy Note 4 will launch on September 26th instead of later in October. It’s not clear whether the company will also push up its Galaxy Note 4 launch dates in other markets.

On the same day, Apple will be launching the iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus in many additional markets.

Despite being better than predecessors and sporting an impressive 2K display, the device will be even cheaper than the any other Note phablet, a card Samsung failed to play before the iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus preorders started. The entry-level on-contract price for the Galaxy Note 4 in South Korea is 957,000 won (about $919), even though it was expected to cost more than 1.1 million won (around $1,057).