Samsung's new hunger marketing strategy for Galaxy S6

Online pre-orders for the Galaxy S6 Edge Iron Man Limited Edition have already sold out in Korea. The handset will also be available in China and Hong Kong in June. On May 28, a spokesperson for Samsung said, “Thanks to the phone's huge popularity, it was sold out less than one day after the start of advance sales,” adding, “Its limited sales will also start in China and Hong Kong next month.” -
This is the first time Samsung has released a limited edition which is big success.
"Hunger marketing" which restrict the supply of products to induce customers to buy is becoming new industry trend in Korea.

At first, the Galaxy S6 Edge Iron Man Limited Edition was only going to be sold in Korea through its partnership with Marvel. However, it will be available in other countries as well, in line with its huge popularity. The fact that online pre-orders were only for 1,000 customers on a first-come first-served basis forced the Internet site that sold the device offline due to demand. In the end, the server crashes continued until early in the morning, and a message was posted at 6 a.m, which said, “The device is no longer available.”

Another typical company that still uses hunger marketing is Apple. For many years, Apple has been successful in using hunger marketing and therefore has elevated its brand value far up the ladder. Their products, such as the MacBook computer, iPhone and iPad were considered as among the most innovative products in the electronics market. Apple’s unique designs and programs have indeed been loved over the years by many customers, and when demand for Apple products outpaced supply, customers wanted Apple products even more. Today, one technology company following the example of Apple is Xiao Mi, a Chinese smartphone company. Xiao Mi did not only restrict the amount of supply but also limited its store only to the Internet: when Xiao Mi launched its smartphone, the company sold its limited supply only online at an attractive low price. Of course, the company had caught many consumers’ attention and started using hunger marketing. The result of the marketing was astounding: all of Xiao Mi smart phones were sold out within five seconds.

Even though hunger marketing brings a lot of benefits to a company, it does not always work effectively and also cannot be used with any product. For hunger marketing to be successful, the product should be unique, meaning that potential buyers should not be able to find the substitute products easily. Although hunger marketing allows producers to charge a higher price than previously advertised, the strategy also runs the risk of public backlash. Despite the chance of increasing brand value, the company might also go through a side effect of losing potential customers if waiting times for products become more than the public can bear. The company’s reputation might decline even further when a product turns out to be disappointing after a long waiting period.