Samsung Begins Selling New Galaxy S6, S6 Edge, Predicts Record Sales

On the same day as bitter rival Apple (AAPL) began online pre-orders for its Watch, Samsung started selling its new flagship Galaxy S6 and S6 Edge smartphones amid predictions by top execs that the new models will break its previous sales records.

The Galaxy S6 and S6 Edge went on sale on Friday, April 10 in the U.S., France and Germany but customers in Asia and parts of EMEA will have to wait a week to buy one.

“We expect the sales volume to hit the highest record ever among the Galaxy series,” said Lee Sang-chul, Samsung mobile marketing head, in advance of the sales date.

And, J.K. Shin, Samsung mobile division head, said that demand for the S6 Edge was outpacing supply owing to higher orders from carriers and the constrained supply of the curved screen owing to manufacturing complexities.

“We’re working hard to resolve the difficulty in supply,” he said, while warning that the supply issue could persist “for a while,” as the Wall Street Journal reported.

Still, some early evidence has surfaced that Samsung’s new handsets could break sales records. BGR reported that carrier T-Mobile said pre-orders for the Galaxy S6 and Galaxy S6 Edge are “already nearly double those of the Galaxy S5, previously the most popular Galaxy phone ever at T-Mobile.”

Samsung’s going to need a boost from the new Galaxy S6 models to make some headway to arrest its lengthening quarterly losing streak. Earlier this week, the mobile device maker said it expects its Q1 2015 earnings to slip again, this time for the sixth consecutive quarter with a 31 percent year-over-year decline to 5.9 trillion won or about $5.4 billion. The expected loss closely mirrors Samsung’s Q4 2014 performance when its profit fell 27 percent to 5.3 trillion won or $4.8 billion, from the prior year.

The Korean device maker will release its full earnings report later this month.