Now that we have the Galaxy Note 3 out of our way and off Samsung’s to-do list, it is only natural that we focus on the “next big thing” right? And that we’re doing. News from Korea point to an early 2014 release for Samsung’s next flagship device, the Galaxy S5.
That may be too early if you ask me since Samsung has traditionally stuck with the predictable March-May timeline. Now what we’re hearing is that the Galaxy S5 is likely to be announced sometime in January and released later in February. That could be strange bearing in mind that Samsung’s past flagships have come in early Q2 with the Galaxy S4 being the only one that was announced late into the first quarter (March 13th 2013). Previous Galaxy S devices like the Galaxy S, Galaxy S II and the Galaxy S III saw a Q2 release with the Galaxy S being released in June 2010 and the Galaxy S II and the S III being released in May.
The early 2014 announcement and release rumours are pegged on reports that the Galaxy S4 did not hit the internal targets set by Samsung and that the device has been plagued by week sales in all markets. We previously heard rumours that the Note 3 would be launched early in June to make up for the Galaxy S4’s weak sales but this was never the case. Since Samsung is yet to release its own internal figures of the number of Galaxy S4’s sold so far, we can only take that with a pinch of salt.
The Galaxy S5 is expected to be Samsung’s first flagship to ditch Samsung’s trademark platic design for a metal construction. In addition it is also expected to have a fingerprint sensor, an Exynos 5430 “true” octa-core chip based on 64-bit architecture and a 16 megapixel camera with optical image stabilization (OIS).
Though this January-February date doesn’t seem likely nor does it make any sense, things start shaping up when you remember the rumoured F series that Samsung is said to be working on. Those, if they exist, will have better specs and be be regarded as more prestigious than the traditional flagship Galaxy S line and maybe they are the devices that will be launched in Q2 before the phablets roll in the following quarter.
Anyway from whichever angle you look at it this doesn’t sound good as the Galaxy S4 is still a baby and the owners of that device have already borne the pain of seeing beefed up versions of the device appear in certain markets days after spending enough $$ on the initial version of the S4. Retiring the S4 for something new that soon may not be the smartest move after all. I hope these rumours won’t turn to be true.
