Samsung is apparently intending to bring forward the launch of the Galaxy Note 5. And the motivation for this is apparently to enable the Korean Electronics giants to compete with the iPhone 6s. The Apple smartphone is expected to release before the end of 2015, and with Apple now producing a phablet-size version of the smartphone, the potential for this to impact on the Galaxy Note 5 is quite high.
It appears that Samsung intends to circumnavigate any attempts by Apple to dominate the phablet market by unveiling the Galaxy Note 5 before the iPhone can be released. This has been reported by Reuters recently, with an unnamed source close to the Samsung supply chain suggesting that the release date of the Galaxy Note 5 has already been decided.
Galaxy Note 5 to be released in August
According to this source, Samsung will release the Galaxy Note 5 in August; a significant step forward over previous iterations of the device. Previous versions of the Galaxy Note series have launched in September, but with the Apple iPhone 6s expected for either September or October, it is clear that Samsung has reassessed its release schedule.
Reuters in fact contacted Samsung directly for comment on the issue, but rather predictably a spokeswoman from the company declined to offer any insight. Thus, we do not know for certain whether or not the reports are correct at the time of writing, but it can be said with some confidence that it would make sense from a commercial perspective for the Korean company.
Samsung playing catch-up
Samsung certainly has a lot to do to compete with Apple in the foreseeable future. The company built up a massive reputation and a strong market position on the back of an outstanding performance in East Asia in particular, but the market has definitely turned against Samsung in recent months and years.
Last year was a spectacular one for Apple, with the company becoming the first to achieve a $700 billion market capitalization. Since then, Apple’s market cap has inched upward to around $725 billion, and the corporation has also been encouraged by more nuggets of excellent news. In the fourth-quarter of 2014, Apple achieved the highest single-quarter profit in recorded business history, and since then Gartner has also confirmed that Apple has overtaken Samsung as the largest seller of mobile devices in pure volume.
To compound matters further for Samsung, it was forced to concede that its range of products has been a little sub-par recently, as profits tumbled by 60 percent. Since then, Samsung has given some consideration to overhauling its range of products, and this resulted in a Galaxy S6 smartphone earlier this year that was based around a metallic and glass design.
iPhone 6s to ship 90 million units in 2015
But Samsung will know that its massive rival is gearing up for an even more gigantic iPhone 6s release than occurred with previous versions of the device. This is pretty significant considering the inordinate success of the iPhone 6. But as Apple continues to expand its operation in new marketplaces such as China, it evidently believes that it can increase its market share, or at least shift more units.
Thus, reports this week have suggested that Apple will produce 90 million units of the iPhone 6s in 2015, even more than it manufactured of the iPhone 6 last year. It is clear that Apple means business with this generation of the iPhone 6s, as it was forced to field some lukewarm recent sales news relating to its embryonic smartwatch, the Apple Watch, earlier this week.
So the decision of Samsung is clearly intended to respond to the massive success of Apple. Samsung had previously announced at the beginning of 2014 that its modus operandi was to replace Apple as the world’s most successful seller of mobile devices. This is appropriate for a corporation that is massive in size and has achieved huge achievements in other areas.
Samsung success stories
For example, Samsung has been the world’s largest manufacturer and seller of television sets for nearly a decade. And Samsung innovations in television have been particularly enthusiastically received, and led directly to a revolution in the mobile marketplace. The introduction of the Galaxy Note Edge last year was an overwhelming success for Samsung, and is expected to lead to copycat devices from Apple in the foreseeable future.
When the Galaxy Note 5 is released, we can expect to see a truly outstanding phablet device. Although the Galaxy S series is technically the flagship smartphone of Samsung, the Galaxy Note 4 was arguably better received than the Galaxy S5, and is certainly technically superior. Samsung has chosen to pack its range of phablets with particularly outstanding specifications, and this is certainly expected to be continued when the Galaxy Note 5 is released.
Galaxy Note 5 to go 4K?
Thus, speculation is already rife that the Galaxy Note 5 will be the first mass-market 4K resolution smartphone. This would make sense for Samsung on many levels, not least the fact that 4K is already becoming a mainstream technology. Although broadcasting in 4K is extremely rare, streaming services such as Netflix are beginning to stock some 4K titles, and the British television broadcaster BT recently announced Europe’s first live 4K television service in the UK.
It would also make sense for Samsung to include 4K resolution in the Galaxy Note 5 as it has become particularly associated with high-quality displays in recent years. This has been a result of its prominence in the television marketplace, and also for the innovative approach it has taken to screens, including the introduction of the curved screen displays.
What seems increasingly likely is that the Galaxy Note 5 will be hitting the market before the iPhone 6s, so Samsung will hope it can produce an outstanding device that captures consumers’ imagination before the release of the iconic Apple brand.
