Many Samsung fans were disappointed when the company said that the flagship Galaxy S8 wouldn’t be announced at its MWC event later this month. But the Korean company may have at least something to say about the S8 at the show. There have been speculations that Samsung would show off the handset to a limited audience and unveil a teaser video. A new report coming out of Korea claims that Samsung will announce the Galaxy S8 launch date at MWC.
Samsung has beefed up safety procedures
Citing Kim Dong-jin, head of Samsung’s wireless business, Hankyung.com reports that the official Galaxy S8 schedule would be announced at the Mobile World Congress. Most leaks and rumors point to a March 29 unveiling at an Unpacked event in New York. The phone would go on sale in most major markets on April 21st. Instead of the S8, Samsung would introduce the Galaxy Tab 3 tablet at the February 26 event.
Samsung has traditionally announced new Galaxy S devices at the Mobile World Congress (MWC). But the company has decided to delay the S8 launch following the Galaxy Note 7 disaster. Samsung has promised to develop better quality assurance practices and safety procedures to ensure that the S8 doesn’t blow up like Galaxy Note 7.
Samsung expects strong demand for Galaxy S8
Sources familiar with the matter told The Investor a few days ago that Samsung plans to increase the initial shipments of the Galaxy S8 by 40% compared to its predecessor. The company plans to ship 16 million units in the first batch. It includes 10 million units of the 5.8-inch S8 and six million of the 6.2-inch S8 Plus. Overall, The Investor expects Samsung to ship 55 million Galaxy S8 handsets by the end of this year, though Samsung has set a target of 60 million units.
A few days ago, Samsung accidentally leaked the Galaxy S8 Plus on its Singapore website, only to take down the page minutes later. The phone listed on Samsung’s Singapore support page carried model number SM-G955FZKDXSP. The same handset with model number SM-G955FZKDINS was recently spotted in India. The last few characters in a model number differ depending on the carrier and region.
Galaxy S8 features and specs
Both the Galaxy S8 and S8 Plus are said to feature a Quad HD Super AMOLED display. Though the upcoming handsets would sport the same 12MP main camera with Dual Pixel technology, there would be under the hood improvements. Samsung will also add its own voice assistant Bixby, which would work with all the native apps on Galaxy S8. Bixby will be capable of communicating in eight different languages.
A report from The Investor claims that the Galaxy S8 and S8 Plus would pack 3,000mAh and 3,500mAh batteries, respectively. Both the phones would be powered by Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 835 or Samsung’s in-house Exynos 8895 chipset depending on the region.
