Samsung Electronics raises production target for new Galaxy phones: Electronic Times

SEOUL (Reuters) - South Korea's Samsung Electronics Co Ltd has raised its production target for the new flagship Galaxy smartphones following positive market reception, the Electronic Times newspaper reported on Wednesday. The South Korean paper, citing an unnamed source, said Samsung increased its total production target for the Galaxy S6 and Galaxy S6 edge devices to 8 million units for April from 7 million previously. The company's production target for March remained unchanged at 5 million units, according to the paper. A Samsung spokeswoman said the company did not comment on rumors or speculation. Designed from scratch in an operation dubbed "Project Zero", the Galaxy S6 and its curved-edges variant are critical for Samsung's plans to reverse plunging smartphone revenues that led to its first annual earnings fall in three years in 2014. The new phones have been well-received for the revamped design and various technological improvements, prompting some brokerages to increase shipments forecasts for Samsung smartphones this year. They will start selling in 20 countries on April 10. (Reporting by Se Young Lee; Editing by Stephen Coates)