In an apparent attempt to prevent cannibalization of its upcoming phablet models by competing products in the same price-range from its own stables, Korean electronics giant Samsung is said to be mulling various strategic options, including giving Europe and some other regions in the world a miss when it comes to launching the Galaxy Note 5. This, according to latest reports coming out of the company’s home base of South Korea. Quoting unidentified industry sources, the Korea Herald has claimed that Samsung has “almost finalized” its negotiations with wireless carriers round the world regarding the Galaxy S6 Edge Plus, whereas its Galaxy Note 5 plans are still up in the air. The company is said to be preparing to put a lions’ share of its considerable money and marketing muscle behind the upcoming Galaxy S6 Edge Plus, and go relatively easy on the fifth generation iteration of the already established Galaxy Note range. This will ostensibly allow the company to avoid a repeat of the situation from earlier in the year, when unforeseen strong demand for the Galaxy S6 Edge is said to have resulted in diminished sales for the Galaxy S6.
The report also claims that Samsung may eventually end up launching the Note 5 only in select markets like South Korea and the US, foregoing most of the other markets around the world in lieu of the S6 Edge Plus, which comes with the novelty factor of curved edges on its side, and is in essence, a larger sibling of the S6 Edge, which was released earlier in the year by the company. While Samsung had originally underestimated demand for the S6 Edge, the company has since then, by all accounts, ramped up productions of its curved panels, and is hoping that demand will continue to be strong for its upcoming curved-screen phablet. While some industry analysts in South Korea are upbeat about the Edge series curved-edge handsets from Samsung, some others have openly voiced their concerns. According to the Korea Herald, one such unnamed skeptic sounded fairly dismissive of the company’s upcoming Edge Plus, and is quoted to have said, “The curved display may be an appealing design feature, but has no practical advantages”.
As for the much-awaited and much-rumored devices themselves, both the upcoming smartphones are rumored to be launched in August. The devices will reportedly be powered by the Exynos 7420 / 7422 SoC, both of which will come with octa-core CPUs and are designed and manufactured in-house by Samsung. Both devices are said to feature 4 GB RAM, which, if true, will make the Galaxy Note 5 and the Galaxy S6 Edge Plus the first devices from the company to come with the feature. Multiple leaks have also suggested that both devices will feature large Quad HD displays and have 16 megapixel primary cameras, making them fairly similar for the most part, but for the ‘Edge’ factor. As for the report from Korea Herald, it remains to be seen how much truth there is to it; so as always, since the veracity cannot be independently ascertained, a generous pinch of salt might well be in order.