[ THE INVESTOR ] Samsung Electronics has almost doubled the first shipments of its upcoming flagship smartphone Galaxy S8 compared to its predecessor S7, local news outlet The Bell reported on Feb. 13.



The figure is about 40 percent up from 12 million units for the S7.











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After the Note 7 fiasco last year, Samsung is expected to make a big push on the new phone launch. The S8 is widely rumored to be unveiled on March 29 before its official launch in mid-April.



The Investor reported earlier that the Korean tech giant has elevated the sales goal for the S8 to about 60 million units, which compares to 48 million unit sales of the S7 and 45 million of the S6.



The Bell reported Samsung Display, the firm’s display-making unit, plans to supply 10 million units of organic light-emitting diode panels for the S8 and 6 million OLED panels for the larger S8 Plus in its first shipments during the January-March period.



Based on the initial shipment, the total shipments could reach 55 million units this year.



But some critics say Samsung is securing more OLED panels than usual in fear of possible shortage in the coming months before Apple’s new iPhone launch, including the first OLED model, in September.



By Lee Ji-yoon (jylee@heraldcorp.com)