Samsung Electronics on Thursday unveiled its Galaxy S4, the latest in its flagship Galaxy series, in Seoul at the company headquarters.

The country’s three mobile carriers ― SK Telecom, KT and LG Uplus ― will start offering network and phone services for the S4 starting today.

On Saturday, Samsung’s latest smartphone will become available through carriers in a total of 155 countries, the company said during a media event on Thursday. The firm indicated that despite the global popularity of the Galaxy, Samsung hopes to maintain its loyalty in the local audience.

The initial release of the phone had taken place in New York City on March 14. 

“We hope for the Galaxy S4 to make life more convenient and more abundant,” said Lee Don-joo, head of strategic marketing for Samsung Electronics’ mobile business unit. “We will continue to offer products that reflect our philosophy for adding value to our customers’ lives by becoming a life partner.”

The upscale functions of the device have already been widely circulated online, such as the upgraded octa-core processor running on the fourth-generation Long Term Evolution network due to specific local demand.

The Korean model was priced at 899,800 won, about 100,000 won lower than expected. The new processor ― the first of its kind to be unveiled in the world designed for smartphones and tablet PCs ― was built to be energy-efficient and for heavy-duty multitasking.

Samsung Electronics, the largest maker of smartphones worldwide, sold 70 million handsets in the first quarter of this year. The company is now out to make a bigger dent in the global industry with the Galaxy S4.

Samsung expects to sell up to 100 million units of the new smartphone around the world, which would nearly match the sales for all its Galaxy S predecessors combined ― Galaxy S, Galaxy S2 and Galaxy S3.

In Korea, the company expects to maintain a 70 percent market share.

By Kim Ji-hyun (jemmie@heraldcopr.com)