Samsung Galaxy S III Mini launched in SA

2013-01-23 13:00

Samsung has sold more than 30 million flagship Galaxy S III smartphones in about five months, making it one of the fastest selling smartphones in the world. (Samsung electronics, AFP)

Duncan Alfreds

Cape Town - Samsung has launched a smaller version of its Galaxy S III to cater to a lower priced segment of the mobile market in SA.

The Galaxy S III reached sales of over 20 million in 100 days since its launch in September 2012 and is estimated to have sold over 40 million by early January 2013.

But not everyone can afford the premium device and Samsung has used the hype of the smartphone to launch a range of cheaper alternatives to serve different market segments.

"We continue to make every effort to provide extraordinary mobile experiences to meet a wide variety of user needs and the S III mini is another way we are doing just this, in reaching a broader consumer segments," said Craige Fleischer, director of Mobile Communications at Samsung Electronics South Africa.

The Galaxy S III Mini is smaller than the flagship, with a 10cm screen and it runs Google's Android 4.1 (Jelly Bean) operating system.

The device also sports many of the S III features such as Smart Stay and S-Beam. The former allows the phone to track the user's eye and the latter allows instant sharing of content between devices.

It has a 1GHz processor and the 5 megapixel camera is also down on the specifications of the Galaxy S III.

The Samsung Galaxy S III Mini weighs 111g, has a minimum of 8GB onboard and supports a micro-SD card slot. It has a recommended retail price that starts at R4 599.


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