Samsung may be looking to launch or rebrand a new series of handsets under the “Rize” branding, based on recent trademark filings for the term spotted by the Netherlands-based tech blog GalaxyClub.nl. The trademarks apply to the term ‘RIZE’ in the US listing as well as ‘Rize’, ‘Rize10’, ‘Rize20’, and
Rize30″ in the UK. None of the trademarks explicitly include the Korean tech giant’s more widely-known “Galaxy” branding at all and none divulges any additional information about the gadgets but it is clear that the name applies to smartphones specifically. Each has been submitted under Nice Class 9 categorization and the use of separate secondary number designations all but guarantees the brand is meant for a series of devices.
Background: The naming convention that’s used in the recently filed trademarks isn’t entirely unexpected with consideration for other rebranding work that’s currently thought to be going on within the organization on a larger scale. The company has reportedly been working to consolidate each of its mid-range and budget models more concisely using a single letter followed by double-digit designators that effectively distinguish a handset relative to others under a given moniker. That’s expected to take effect at some point in 2019 and previously reported models have included the M30, M40, and M50, in addition to the A30, A40, A70, and A80. In the latter group, Samsung has been predicted to include all of its ‘A’-series smartphones while the ‘M’ category has been said to include those that previously fell into the ‘J’, ‘C’, Galaxy ‘ON’, and ‘M’-series. A ‘Galaxy G‘ series has been put forward via rumors as well, although it’s not immediately clear where gadgets in that would stand in relation to the other two phone families.
The idea thought to be behind the rebranding primarily stems from the sometimes dozens of variants Samsung currently puts out with every new iteration of a smartphone below the flagship level. For clarity, Samsung may release a Galaxy J3 handset, only to have that device release under different branding at each respective carrier or with varying names depending on the market it appears in. That convolution was made worse by the fact that any given device in the mid-range or budget categories would historically keep its branding with no differentiator to separate yearly releases. By using a double-digit model number, the company would be able to separate the handsets more clearly for consumers.
Impact: The more recent trademarks haven’t been granted just yet but don’t appear to contain any discrepancies that would prevent approval. On the surface, they also appear to fly directly in opposition to the idea that Samsung is reducing naming conventions to alleviate confusion for its brand. However, there’s no Galaxy branding to be found here either and no clear indication that these are intended to bear that branding at all. So this could be an entirely new series of devices from the tech giant or a complete rework of an older branding meant to serve a completely different purpose. It wouldn’t be surprising to see the ‘Rize’ brand used in place of ‘Galaxy’ for new Android One or Android Go handsets, for example. That would set a clear defining line between the Samsung Experience overlay and smartphones without any visual customizations on top of AOSP.