Jens Heithecker, the Executive Director of the Internationale Funkausstellung Berlin (IFA) industrial exhibition said that he’s hoping Samsung will announce the Galaxy Note 8 at IFA 2017 this summer. While speaking at an IFA press conference hosted in Lisbon on Saturday, Heithecker stated that IFA is the only show that can attract journalists from all parts of the world in late August and early September, which is when the South Korean consumer electronics manufacturer is expected to launch its upcoming high-end Android phablet.
Despite Heithecker’s comments, industry watchers believe it’s unlikely that Samsung will officially announce this year’s addition to the Galaxy Note lineup at IFA 2017 for several reasons. The Seoul-based tech giant has moved the majority of its major flagship announcements to North America several years ago, and the last Galaxy Note-branded smartphone announced at IFA was the Galaxy Note 4 in 2014. Furthermore, the company will likely be looking to beat the iPhone 8 to the market with the Galaxy Note 8, and seeing how Apple is expected to hold its annual smartphone keynote in September, Samsung will have to announce its upcoming phablet no later than August if it’s looking to have it ready for the market by the time Apple debuts its next flagship. As the company’s previous release patterns suggest, each Galaxy flagship starts retailing approximately a month after being announced, following a massive marketing campaign. Due to that state of affairs, a launch at IFA 2017 would mean that the Galaxy Note 8 wouldn’t hit the market until late September, which is why Samsung will likely announce the smartphone much sooner.
Regardless of the Galaxy Note 8, Samsung is expected to have the largest presence at the upcoming IFA show, Heithecker said, adding how the South Korean consumer electronics manufacturer and its local rivals should put a larger focus on Europe in the future. As for Samsung’s upcoming flagship, not a lot of details have been revealed about the handset so far, though the Galaxy Note 8 will likely be powered by the same chips that are featured inside the Galaxy S8 and the Galaxy S8 Plus, i.e. Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 835 and Samsung’s Exynos 8898, depending on the market.