The number of customers signing-up with South Korean operators for Samsung’s latest flagship smartphone is lower than that for previous generations, The Korea Herald reported.

It put the number of customers picking a Galaxy S10 on the first day of registration at 140,000, below the 180,000 choosing the Galaxy S9 and 200,000 for Samsung’s Galaxy Note 9 in 2018.

Samsung subsequently told South Korean website The Investor that the original report was “based on the wrong stats” for Galaxy S9 and Galaxy S10, although it did not clarify in what way they were incorrect. MVNO sales of the new smartphone are also excluded, it noted.

Samsung’s registration process started in advance of availability of three smartphones: Galaxy S10; Galaxy S10e (pictured); and Galaxy S10+.

The Korea Herald noted Samsung is set to launch a 5G version of the flagship in the foreseeable future, and so some customers may be taking a wait-and-see approach. South Korea is an advanced market for 5G technology.

But there are other factors which may be at play. As the price of high-end smartphones has spiralled, this has dampened demand among price-sensitive customers. And device refresh cycles are slowing, due to the relative lack of compelling new features driving customers to upgrade to the latest tech at the earliest point.

Of course, first day registrations for a smartphone in a single – small – market is no way to measure the success of a device. But with this marking the tenth anniversary of Galaxy flagships, it will probably be somewhat disappointing for the vendor in its home market.