The Galaxy S21 FE has been definitely delayed. There’s no hope of the upcoming flagship killer from Samsung arriving in the market before Q4 2021. Worst yet, it will likely be available in a limited quantity, and only in a handful of markets.
Corroborating an earlier report, Korean publication Yonhap Newsreports that Samsung is considering releasing the Galaxy S21 FE in the US and Europe only. That means the device will not be available in the company’s home country South Korea as well. The Korean firm has had to make this decision due to the ongoing global semiconductor chip shortage.
The upcoming affordable Galaxy flagship will use Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 888 processor. However, Samsung has failed to acquire enough chips from the American company for a timely release of the Galaxy S21 FE. It is now having to wait until Qualcomm will be able to supply the required chips.
Samsung will likely use its Exynos 2100 SoC in the phone for the European market. But in the US, the company has to use Qualcomm processors due to a business agreement as well as other cost-management reasons. And since it doesn’t have enough Snapdragon 888 chipsets in stock, it has had to delay the Galaxy S21 FE launch.
There’s still no concrete launch date for the device. Reports suggest the Korean firm will unveil it sometime in October. It’s unclear whether the phone will go on sale immediately after unveiling.
In the meantime, Samsung is preparing to host a major launch event about a month from now. Though the Galaxy S21 FE will be missing from the event, there’s still plenty to look forward to. Two new foldables, two new smartwatches, and a new pair of TWS earbuds should come out during the event.
Chip shortage has rocked the tech industry
If you haven’t been living under the rocks for the past few months, you probably know that the tech industry is currently having to deal with a semiconductor chip shortage on a global scale. The issue has affected the smartphone and automotive industries alike. Samsung, one of the world’s largest chip manufacturers, isn’t safe either.
Along with a delayed launch of the Galaxy S21 FE, the Korean company is also struggling to introduce select older products to some markets it wanted to. The Galaxy A72 release in the US has been delayed, while certain variants of the Galaxy A52 aren’t available in some markets.
Efforts are being put to resolve this chip shortage problem as early as possible. Chip manufacturing companies like Samsung, TSMC, and Intel have pledged big investments to expand their production capacities. But the scale of the problem is so big that nothing can be said for sure. Only time will tell whether or not this chip shortage subsides anytime soon.