Both the Galaxy Note 5 and Galaxy S7 will be critical mobile devices for Samsung, but when will they release? The last few years have seen relatively settled releases from both Samsung and its great rival Apple, but the consumer electronics landscape is set to shift significantly during the next couple of years.
iPhone delay to impact on Galaxy series
There is already speculation that Apple may delay the iPhone 7 until 2016, and this is looking like an increasingly strong possibility. Although Samsung would never want to be accused of reacting solely to the behavior of Apple, behind closed doors there is no doubt the company will follow its most obvious rival’s behaviour extremely closely.
The fact that Apple is delaying the next generation iPhone for 12 months, or at least that this is not being strongly suggested, will honestly be of great interest to Samsung. The way that the Korean Corporation reacts to this will define the success of the remainder of this year, and indeed 2016, for what has been until recently the largest seller of mobile devices in the world.
Apple overtakes Samsung
One says ‘recently’ because evidence has emerged in the last couple of months which indicates that Samsung can no longer lay claim to this particular crown. According to the technology analyst organization Gartner, Apple has overtaken a Samsung as the world’s largest seller of mobile devices, which is something of a blow to the position of Samsung in the marketplace.
The Korean manufacturer has always relied on selling large numbers of relatively affordable devices in its native East Asia in particular, but it now seems as if Apple is catching up and even exceeding Samsung in these marketplaces. Samsung remains incredibly popular in its native Korea, but Apple has adopted a very successful strategy in China, which has seen iPhone sales grow spectacularly.
So Samsung needs to very carefully consider its next moves in a shifting marketplace which appears to be increasingly hostile for the nonetheless massively successful manufacturer. As such, the Galaxy Note 5 and Galaxy S7 will be extremely significant device releases for Samsung.
The former will be intended to be a truly revolutionary smartphone release, while the Galaxy Note 5 follows hot on the heels of the hugely lauded Galaxy Note 4. Samsung will thus be expected to repeat and exceed the quality of the Galaxy Note 4 in relative terms when the Galaxy Note 5 is released.
Samsung to consider iPhone schedule
Therefore, timing is going to be incredibly important for both devices. But the scheduling of the Galaxy Note 5 seems easier to predict. Although the Galaxy Note 5 now has an obvious rival in the iPhone Plus series, arguably no company has yet to produce a phablet which is the equal of the Samsung handset. And certainly based on analysts’ speculation at this point in time, Apple has no intention of producing a revolutionary iPhone 7 Plus during 2015.
This would leave the road very much clearer for a strong, but relatively unambitious, Galaxy Note 5 released during 2015, and this may simply mean that Samsung sticks to the schedule that it opted for in 2014. This would imply that the Galaxy Note 5 would hit the stores in October 2015, although some Samsung maybe tempted to bring this date forward slightly in order to get its product to market before the release of the predicted iPhone 6s Plus.
In the case of the Galaxy S7, the landscape is a little more complicated. Nobody is quite sure when the Apple iPhone 7 will launch, even though it is becoming widely predicted that we will see this smartphone release during 2016. It has been suggested by some sources that the Apple iPhone 7 could launch around six months after the emergence of the iPhone 6s. Should Apple stick to its usual product schedule, this would suggest that we will see the iPhone 7 around April 2016.
Galaxy S7 date hazy
But other analysts believe that Apple will require more time to produce the sort of paradigm shifting iPhone 7 that the company truly decides to produce, and this could necessitate more design and production time.
So Samsung needs to strongly consider whether the iPhone 7 will be unveiled before finalizing the release date of the Galaxy S7. Usually, this handset is unveiled at the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, and follows with an April release date. But with Apple possibly launching an iPhone in April 2016, it is not inconceivable that Samsung will put forward the release date of the Galaxy S7 in order to ensure that it predates the iPhone.
What is certain is that this competitive smartphone climate is good news for consumers, and we should see some outstanding Galaxy releases from Samsung over the next 12 months.
