Samsung Galaxy S III likely to hit retail shelves in India on June 8, priced at Rs 39,990

Samsung will be hosting a press conference in New Delhi on May 31 to launch the Galaxy S III in India but the smartphone is likely to be available a week later. Multiple sources have told BGR India that the Galaxy S III will be available on store shelves around June 8. Even online retailers are expecting units to be available for shipping from June 8 onwards.
We are also hearing that the Galaxy S III will be priced at Rs 39,990. This is likely to be the MRP and not the street price. However, considering the high profile nature of the Galaxy S III, we cannot confirm whether the phone will retail at Rs 39,990 for the first few weeks or will it, like all other phones, have a different market operating price as soon as it is launched. At the moment, Samsung is taking pre-bookings for the Galaxy S III and is offering a free Bluetooth headset for those who commit Rs 2,000 to reserve their unit.
The Galaxy S III will compete with the HTC One X, which was launched in India for Rs 37,899 and is now retailing at about Rs 36,000. Samsung might just put a premium on the Galaxy S III, considering the success of the Galaxy S II and the Galaxy Note as well as its marketing muscle, which would easily overshadow what HTC has done so far for the One X. Ideally, HTC could gain some additional sales were it to slash the price of the One X but that is unlikely to happen.