Samsung Electronics will unveil its next flagship smartphone, the Galaxy S IV, in February at the Mobile World Congress trade show, according to a report in the Korea Times.
The report, citing an unnamed Samsung official, said Samsung will use the global trade show to announce the phone and it will go on sale in March 2013. The report from South Korea also cited local parts suppliers for Samsung. The report said the gadget will have a 5-inch screen, LTE and Samsung's quad-core Exynos processor. Paraphrasing words from the Samsung official, the report said the new phone will be "more than enough" to curb demand for Apple's (NASDAQ:AAPL) iPhone 5.
Samsung representatives did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The rumored release date spilled out just days after Apple unveiled the iPhone 5. Apple said it sold 2 million iPhone 5s via pre-orders in the device's first 24 hours of availability, double the number of iPhone 4S units it sold in the same amount of time last year.
A release date in the first quarter of next year for the Galaxy S IV would come about nine months after Samsung unveiled the Galax S III. Samsung revealed in late July that it had sold 10 million units of its S III since it went on sale May 29. Samsung did not say whether the sale figure meant sales into the retail channel or sales to direct end users.
Samsung eclipsed Nokia (NYSE:NOK) to become the world's largest handset maker by volume this year, and has taken the top smartphone spot as well, according to estimates from research firms (Samsung has stopped detailing quarterly handset shipment figures). A launch so soon after the Galax S III for Samsung's next flagship phone could either indicate a quickening pace of Samsung's design cadence or a desire to cut into as many iPhone 5 sales as possible--or both.
Samsung also released a new ad titled "It doesn't take a genius" to knock the iPhone 5 and show the bevy of specifications that it feels make the Galaxy S III superior. However, as Apple's early iPhone 5 sales indicate, customer demand is extremely strong.
For more:
- see this Korea Times article
- see this Fortune article
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