There have been countless rumors in the past few months that Samsung’s Galaxy S7 would arrive earlier than the usual Galaxy S line refresh cycle. Samsung has historically unveiled its new Galaxy S line devices a day before the Mobile World Congress. A Twitter tipster who “has been right many times in the past” reports that the Galaxy S7 (and S7 Edge) would be unveiled on February 21, 2016.
MWC to begin on February 22, 2016
The Galaxy S6 and S6 Edge were unveiled on March 1, 2015. So, the S7 would arrive sooner than its predecessor was unveiled earlier this year if the new report is to be believed. But there is one more side of the story. The Korean electronics giant releases its flagship smartphones a day before the MWC in Barcelona. The 2016 MWC is set to begin on February 22. So it makes sense for Samsung to schedule the next Galaxy Unpacked event on February 21.
Forget an "early announcement" …nothing changed… https://t.co/J9TQXxJPSz ;) #galaxys7 #galaxys7edge #more #other pic.twitter.com/ZgdYFADwGE
— Ricciolo (@Ricciolo1) November 11, 2015
If the report is true, the Korean company is simply going to stick to its tradition of unveiling new Galaxy S phones a day before MWC. But a separate report suggests that the device could indeed arrive sooner than expected. Sources familiar with the matter told SamMobile that Samsung had started developing firmware for the Galaxy S7 about a month earlier than it did for the Galaxy S6 last year.
Galaxy S7 may pick up some iPhone 6S sales
The two firmware codes, G930FXXU0AOK6 and G935FXXU0AOK6, are for the Galaxy S7 and S7 Edge with a curved screen. Samsung could be aiming for an earlier release next year, as it did with the Galaxy Note 5 this year. It would help the company pick up some iPhone 6S sales. If buyers know that a new flagship device is coming out, they might be more inclined to wait a little longer than buying months old iPhone 6S.
What’s more, another leak suggests that Samsung has begun mass production of the Galaxy S7 chip. One variant of Galaxy S7 will be powered by Exynos 8890 processor while another will likely use Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 820 SoC. The company has started producing Exynos 8890 in large numbers. The Galaxy S7 and S7 Edge are likely to run Android Marshmallow out of the box.
