Verizon Wireless will release the Samsung Gear S3 Frontier in late June following several delays, an internal email sent to the company’s sales representatives revealed, as reported by Phone Arena. The New Jersey-based firm is the only mobile service provider in the United States that has yet to release Samsung’s latest Tizen-powered smartwatches and has previously stated its intentions to launch them alongside the Galaxy S8 and the Galaxy S8 Plus on April 21. However, Verizon ultimately postponed the release of Samsung’s wearables for an unknown reason that the aforementioned email only describes as some “unforeseen circumstances.” Following the memo, all of the company’s sales representatives started informing customers that they won’t be able to purchase the Gear S3 Classic and the Gear S3 Frontier until late June, though none of them are able to clarify on the matter seeing how the largest mobile service provider in the country has yet to issue a more detailed explanation for the delay, provided that ever happens.
Verizon’s physical stores already have Samsung’s Tizen-powered wearables on display, which has been the case for weeks, but customers are still unable to order the devices. The New Jersey-based wireless carrier is expected to reveal the precise release date for the devices in the coming weeks, so more details on the matter should be available shortly, though it remains to be seen whether the firm eventually clarifies why it’s so late with introducing the Gear S3 lineup.
Originally launched last November, the Gear S3 Classic and the Gear S3 Frontier are direct successors to the 2015 Gear S2 lineup of wearables powered by Samsung’s proprietary Tizen operating system. Even though many smartwatch makers around the world are adopting Google’s Android Wear OS, the South Korean consumer electronics manufacturer opted to promote its own platform in an effort to grow an ecosystem over which it has more control. While Verizon may be late with releasing the Gear S3 product family, Samsung is already expected to unveil the Gear S4 lineup later this year, presumably around fall. More details regarding the company’s upcoming products and general wearable-related efforts will follow in the coming months.