Samsung has been hit hard by the cancellation of the Galaxy Note 7, which was expected to be one of the best-selling smartphones of 2016. However, for reasons that have now been well-documented in the media and across social media over the past several weeks, the device had to be scrapped by the South Korean consumer electronics company. Earlier today, the company released its third-quarter earnings report, which revealed a massive 96% decline in quarterly operating profits for its mobile division; something that can be largely attributed to the cancellation of the ill-fated phablet. What it means is that Samsung doesn’t have a new smartphone to go up against companies like Apple, LG and Google, who’ve all launched brand new flagship smartphones over the past few weeks.
While the Galaxy S7 and S7 Edge are still pretty decent devices in their own right, they were launched back in March of this year after being unveiled at the MWC (Mobile World Congress) trade show in Barcelona the previous month. That being the case, the two devices are starting to get a bit jaded in an industry where six months is often a lifetime, what with new offerings from a whole bunch of manufacturers available to buyers, and often at the click of a button. That’s where Samsung’s next flagship assumes huge importance not just for the company, but the entire smartphone industry in general. While some tidbits about the upcoming device have already started leaking out, what we now have is a statement from the vice president of Samsung’s mobile-communications unit, Mr. Lee Jae-yong.
According to him, the Galaxy S8 will feature a “slick design” and an “improved camera”, which would certainly be something to look forward to, given that the Galaxy S7 and S7 Edge are already widely believed to have great imaging capabilities in all sorts of lighting conditions. Obviously, this isn’t exactly big news and you wouldn’t expect a Samsung executive to say anything different, but it does probably show that the company is working hard on the design language of its next-gen flagship. As for the camera, it will be interesting to see if the Samsung will also jump on the dual-camera bandwagon that is well and truly a ‘thing’ circa 2016, or if the company will stick to its single-sensor camera modules for now. As for the Galaxy S8, the device is rumored to debut at MWC 2017 and will reportedly be the first smartphone to feature an optical fingerprint scanner.