Samsung UK stores see lines for the launch of the Galaxy S III, supply issues shaping up

We got sent photos of the line for the Samsung Galaxy S III launch in Startford's Westfield store, and it seems north of 30 people were queuing outside at the time to be one of the first getting their hands on the latest flagship Android. The line continued inside up to the counter with an estimated 80+ people in total, which are Apple-esque launch day numbers.

Stock has been quickly dwindling, though, especially considering the tight supply of the Pebble Blue version, which will see wait times of up to 2-3 weeks now. UK carriers and retailers are also reporting wait times, with O2 pinning it at 5 days, Vodafone has it for delivery in up to 4 days, and T-Mobile saying it will be available after today.

Why the Pebble Blue Galaxy S III is delayed

An official confirmation was received that Samsung is delaying the Pebble Blue Galaxy S III units due to some manufacturing issues regarding the paintjob and the panels' material.



The official statement went like this:

Some Samsung Galaxy S III stock delayed in the UK

It appears that some Samsung Galaxy S III units won't make it in time to the UK.

Clove has informed preorders of the upcoming Samsung Galaxy S III will be delayed until June 1st, rather than the announced May 30th release date. The blue variant is expected to be delayed even further, with supplies set to be available on June 5th, although that date is tentative.

Galaxy S III released in 28 countries around the world

The Samsung Galaxy S III went on sale on 28th and was the biggest launch for a single product in the company's history, with a simultaneous release in 28 countries around the world.

Samsung Galaxy S III now on sale in Dubai, yours for $667

Although it is not supposed to be on the market just yet, the Samsung Galaxy S III can already be purchased in Dubai, apparently. Advertisements for the highly-anticipated smartphone were spotted at a mall by a fellow Reddit user, who initially presumed that only pre-orders were being accepted. However, after a brief conversation with a store employee, it turned out that the white version of the next Galaxy was in stock indeed with plenty of units waiting to meet their new owners. And if that is not enough, the Samsung Galaxy S III was priced at about $667, which is considerably cheaper than what Amazon is currently asking for the device.

Samsung Galaxy S III made by 75,000 workers; phone is the fastest selling gadget of all-time

With reports that the Samsung Galaxy S III has pre-orders for 9 million units, the handset will be the fastest selling gadget ever. The 9 million figure will top the 8 million units of  Microsoft Kinect sold in a 60 day period. So how many people does it take to produce huge quantities of the eagerly awaited handset? ExtremeTech decided it would find out, so they went back through some releases and news stories, opened the calculator on their phones, and figured out that it takes 75,000 workers to produce the 9 million units of the Samsung Galaxy S III and the additional millions more in sales that will be coming. Keep in mind that this is just a quick back of the envelope figure and the actual number could be a whole lot more, or a whole lot less.

Samsung Galaxy S III available for pre-order from Vodafone, O2 and Three in the U.K.

The Samsung Galaxy S III is now available for pre-order from a trio of U.K. carriers, Vodafone, O2 and Three. Vodafone says that it aims to have pre-orders shipped by the end of this month. Depending on the plan that Vodafone customers choose, the Samsung Galaxy S III will run from 149 GBP ($240.69 USD) to free. The latter plan costs 41 GBP a month for the 16GB unit ($66.23 USD) and comes with 900 minutes of talk, unlimited texts and 2GB of data. Vodafone has a one month exclusive on the 32GB variant and that will come for free with a monthly 46 GBP plan ($74.31 USD).

Preorder at Amazon UK falls to $809, US still keeps it at $899

UK will get dibs on the Samsung Galaxy S III very soon, and the nice preorder deals we saw from Carphone Warehouse, for example, where you get a free Galaxy Tab 10.1 thrown in for a good measure if you are amongst the first 1000 to get it with a contract, is expanding to more places, as far as the price of the phone itself is concerned.

Now Amazon UK has the phone for 499 pound sterling SIM-free (about $809), down from 550 at most places. We bet that price will continue to slide down when the May 30 launch nears, so even right after its availability it won't be priced higher than the rest of the high-end Android competition.

Amazon in the US has the price pegged at $899 SIM-free since the announcement and isn't budging at those early adopters, who want to have the latest and greatest Android phone unlocked before everybody else is waiting for the US carrier versions.

Source : Amazon and Amazon UK