Samsung is confident its new "iPhone-killer" handset is so good it launched it twice here.
The Galaxy SIII smartphone, which has a retail price of Dh2,499 (US$680), first hit the shops in the UAE at the end of last month, but was not "officially" launched until this month.
That followed a May 3 global announcement about details of the phone.
Such a public-relations blitz is common in the mobile business, as phone manufacturers look to generate maximum buzz about their products.
Nokia announced the UAE launch of its Asha range of cheap smartphones in April. That was despite the fact the phones have been in the shops since late last year.
This phenomena is known in the industry as a "soft launch", says Ashraf Fawakherji, the general manager of the telecommunications group at Samsung Gulf Electronics. He said, despite the "official" launch of the Galaxy SIII phone being held this month, it was released earlier in the UAE because of strong demand. "We [did a] soft launch before our official launch in this region. Because people started asking, and we got many enquiries, so we decided to start this earlier," he said.
"We launched when the phone was ready. And we had to release it, we cannot keep it on hold."
But just because a product has been launched twice over, it does not necessarily mean you can buy it. Many UAE retailers have already sold out of the new SIII handset - and according to Samsung, supplies will be limited until the end of the month.
Mr Fawakherji said the short supply of the handset in the Gulf region was due to the high demand - and not a ploy to create additional buzz about the product.
"We're not into that game of creating demand by making short supply," he said. "I don't think we still need any buzz."
