Samsung co-Chief Executive Officer Koh Dong-jin stated it may well be hard for the brand to launch a new Galaxy Note model this year at a time when the sector was grappling with severe imbalance in provide and demand of semiconductors.
No new Galaxy Note in 2021 will be a huge break with convention for the South Korean giant. Samsung has had a fabled history of launching several higher-finish phones each year for a although now—and the Note has generally been regarded as the pinnacle (of that approach) with a huge value tag to match. Though, more than the final year or so, Samsung has been moving these advancements to an all-new category of foldable devices like the Galaxy Fold and Galaxy Flip.
“Note series is positioned as a high-end model in our business portfolio,” Koh stated for the duration of the brand’s annual shareholders meeting in Seoul (by means of Bloomeberg). “It could be a burden to unveil two flagship models in a year so it might be difficult to release Note model in 2H.”
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Speculations that Samsung may well axe the Note-series totally have been going about for some time. Those speculations reached an all-time higher earlier in the year when it launched the Galaxy S21 Ultra with S-pen assistance. To be clear, Samsung has not confirmed or denied these speculations and by the look of it, that “strategy” stays place even today.
“The timing of Note model launch can be changed but we seek to release a Note model next year,” Koh stated confirming that the Galaxy Note series will live on as soon as Samsung braves this—chip shortage—storm. It is of course really early to foresee its future, but there is a really higher possibility that Samsung may well fuse the Fold and Note into one thing more interesting—and exciting—because in the existing kind, all its Note phones finish up searching like a different iteration of the Galaxy S with a bundled stylus even as the Galaxy Fold holds the forte for technological innovation—something the Note did back in the day.
Coming back to the semiconductor trouble, Samsung was possibly the only significant tech brand that did not look to have an situation final year—even early this year—when it came to higher-profile item launches. All its headlining phones have been ideal on schedule. While Apple, for instance, was late with its iPhone 12 line-up. The world’s biggest smartphone maker is also not immune to this international crisis although, which is apparent from Koh’s words.
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“Despite the difficult environment, our business leaders are meeting partners overseas to solve these problems. It’s hard to say the shortage issue has been solved 100%.”
Chip shortage has grow to be a substantial challenge for brands (specifically auto and console) lately even as they face a double whammy of provide chain disruption and greater than anticipated demand in the wake of a international pandemic.