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The Samsung Galaxy S III is a standout device in a market thats finding it increasingly hard to be distinct. With Samsung announcing its summer blockbuster smartphone will be available from Verizon Wireless, AT&T, Sprint, T-Mobile and U.S. Cellular, its now up to the carriers to find a way to stand apart.
AT&T, in a June 4 release, confirmed it will offer the device and will begin taking preorders June 6though unlike Sprint and T-Mobile, which will begin selling the smartphones June 21, AT&T gave no sale date.
AT&T did, however, instantly set apart its Galaxy S III, as well as give credence to a circulating rumor.
AT&T customers will also have exclusive access to a red version of the Galaxy S III this summer, for red, white and blue color choices, it said in a statement.
It will sell a 16GB version of the GS III for $199.99, though also offer a 16GB MicroSD card for $39, for a total 32GB offering for $238.99.
Sprint, meanwhile, has said it will offer a 32GB version of the smartphone for $249.99and be the only carrier to pair the phone with an unlimited data plan.
Verizon Wireless will also price its 32GB version at $249.99 and begin accepting preorders starting June 6 at 7 a.m. EST.
In South Korea, Samsung has launched a hot-pink version of the Galaxy Note, which the United Kingdoms Carphone Warehouse says it will begin selling soon. Combined with the news of AT&Ts red GS IIIand if the Samsung calls blue Pebble Blue and white Marble White, AT&T has surely blanded-down a nature-themed name Samsung has given the redit seems increasingly likely theres something to the rumors of a gunmetal gray option that a German tech site recently showed off.
Samsungs U.S. spokespeople, however, say they know of nothing but blue and white.
The June launch of the GS III, the arrival of the HTC One X, which some reviewers of the GS III say they prefer to the Samsung, and the anticipated fall arrival of an updated iPhone 5by all accounts but Apples, of courseare expected to help a 2012 smartphone market that has until now been soft but should soon exceed the norm.
Canaccord Genuity analysts Michael Walkley and Matthew Ramsay wrote in a June 5 research note that smartphones are showing slightly better sales trends in May than they did in April.
With the Samsung Galaxy S III smartphones and HTC One Series just starting to ramp volume into the channel, combined with our expectations for the iPhone 5 to launch in October, states the report, we anticipate more [second half] weighted 2012 smartphone sales than normal seasonal trends.
Walkley and Ramsay added that their checks show initial very strong demand for the HTC One X and One S. Although the Nokia Lumia 900 is posting solid sales at AT&T, the mass push for the newest Galaxy and iPhone devices would seem to be undoing Nokias solid efforts.
Even May sales checks for RIM and Nokia, wrote the analysts, remained very weak, as their market share continues to be stolen by low-end and mid-tier Android phones.