When Samsung announced the Galaxy Note 4 in Berlin back in September, it was hardly a surprise. The company has introduced a new Galaxy Note handset every year since they launched the original Galaxy Note, and they’ve always been launched during IFA over in Europe. This year though, Samsung did have something different in store for us, with the introduction of the Galaxy Note Edge, a Galaxy Note 4 with a curved ‘edge’ to it with a thin curved AMOLED display. The Galaxy Note Edge is a different device and one that Samsung is, unsurprisingly, unwilling to produce and launch on the same sort of scale as the Galaxy Note 4. New devices that cost a lot to produce like this pose big risks for companies like Samsung.
However, Samsung is willing to release the Galaxy Note Edge around the world and it’s even coming to the major carriers here in the US. Over in Europe though, Samsung is doing things differently, by taking a leaf out of OnePlus’ marketing book it would seem. In Germany, the Galaxy Note Edge won’t be launched until 120,210 (a strange number on its own) people tell Samsung that they want it. As of writing, the total stands at 48,553 so there’s clearly quite a way to go. This is certainly one of the stranger tactics I’ve seen Samsung employ over the years, but we do need to remember that curved AMOLED isn’t easy to produce and if I were Samsung I don’t think I’d want to release a device that I have no idea if it’s going to be successful.
Samsung fans in Germany have until November 10th to let Samsung know the region is worthy of the Galaxy Note Edge and even then there’s only going to be limited stock available. Is this an annoying tactic for Samsung to take? Of course it is. Still, we would rather Samsung bother to launch the Galaxy Note Edge at all, rather than simply leaving the device in South Korea a la the Galaxy Curve. The LG G Flex proved to be something of a small success story for LG and while it didn’t sell anywhere near as well as the G2, it was an interesting product and the fact that LG managed to launch it throughout the US and beyond is commendable in its own right. Devices with curved screens are still costly affairs to produce and manufacturers need to see their devices sell better before they toll them out on a wider scale.