Domestic sales of Samsung Electronics’ latest Galaxy S5 smartphone appeared to be robust despite limited availability through carriers amid the government’s crackdown on subsidies for new subscribers.

The daily average sales of the Galaxy S5, launched in the home market on March 27, came to around 7,000 units, according to industry sources. However, the figure was slightly below the 8,000 units posted by its predecessor Galaxy S4 and far below the 10,000 units for Galaxy S4 LTE-A.

The rollout of the new smartphone had faced challenges due to business suspensions slapped on the country’s three mobile carriers. The suspensions forced Samsung to agree to the three mobile carriers breaching the initially set global release date to launch the phone on March 27.

Industry watchers say sales so far are remarkable given that only one of the country’s three carriers is currently in full operation and that the carriers are no longer allowed to pay out subsidies.

(shinjh@heraldcorp.com)