The upcoming Galaxy S8 and the Galaxy S8 Plus will likely ship with AKG headphones and their audio setup will also be tuned by the Vienna, Austria-based company. Samsung’s representatives heavily hinted at this possibility during the Mobile World Congress (MWC) conference earlier today during which they’ve unveiled the Galaxy Tab S3. While speaking about future products, one of the company’s officials said that the “next flagship smartphone” made by Samsung will feature audio tuned by AKG and ship with AKG-made headphones. While the Galaxy S8 obviously wasn’t mentioned by name, it seems pretty clear that the company was referring to this particular device.
Coincidentally, the Galaxy Tab S3 that was announced a few hours ago at MWC also features headphones and audio tuning by AKG. While this is far from the first time that a major consumer electronics manufacturer decided to collaborate with a renowned audio company, Samsung’s desire to work with AKG is likely directly connected to the fact that the South Korean tech giant is currently in the process of acquiring AKG’s parent company Harman International Industries for $8 billion. Once it’s approved by regulators, Samsung’s purchase of Harman will become the largest foreign acquisition in the history of the Seoul-based business conglomerate. While Samsung wants to acquire Harman for a variety of reasons, many of which are connected to Harman’s connected car systems, the partnership with AKG seems like one of the many side effects of this upcoming transaction.
Regardless, more information on the Galaxy S8 and AKG’s contribution to its development is bound to follow shortly seeing how Samsung just announced an exclusive unboxing event that’s scheduled for March 29. The event will take place in New York City where the South Korean company will almost certainly unveil the Galaxy S8 and the Galaxy S8 Plus. Both devices were initially planned to be announced at MWC that’s officially starting tomorrow, but Samsung pushed back their release following the Galaxy Note 7 debacle as the company reportedly wanted more time to extensively test the safety of its upcoming flagship duo. Both the Galaxy S8 and the Galaxy S8 Plus are currently expected to hit the market in the second half of April.