A recent upbeat atmosphere in the Korean smartphone market peaked Thursday, as LG Electronics kicked off preorders for its latest flagship V30 smartphone in competition with Samsung’s Galaxy Note 8.

This is the first time for LG to throw a preorder event for the V series smartphone, which has been read by market watchers as the company’s renewed confidence in the newest product.

Preorders for the LG phones will be available for one week until Wednesday through the country’s three big mobile carriers.

LG is pinning high hopes on the new multimedia-focused handset that was unveiled last month, as it has received positive responses from foreign buyers. 

In order to win over consumers, the company decided to set the new phone’s price at 949,300 won ($840) for the 64-gigabyte model, 12 percent cheaper than rival Samsung’s Galaxy Note 8 priced at 1.09 million won.

Preorders of the high-priced Samsung phone hovered around 700,000 as of Thursday, one day before closing.

However, just around 60 percent of the preorders are actually purchased, according to past trends.

“Consumers now have two good choices,” said an official in the telecom industry. “Those who prioritize cost effectiveness seem to be leaning toward LG phones.”

Introducing the latest premium smartphone, Juno Cho, LG’s smartphone business chief, said, “The V30 smartphone will be a great alternative to the Samsung phones.”

Along with the two newest IT gadgets, the market is getting a boost from the government’s initiative to reduce mobile cost burdens on households.

Prime Minister Lee Nak-yon said at a meeting on coordination of state affairs, “The government will continue improving rules and regulations for the mobile market by cutting costs and promoting a healthy competition.”

Pushed by the Moon Jae-in administration, the discount rate for a new phone’s mobile bill will be raised from 20 percent to 25 percent starting Friday. Senior citizens and low-income families will get an 11,000 won reduction in their phone bills by around December.

By Song Su-hyun (song@heraldcorp.com)