The recently launched Galaxy S8 and Galaxy S8+ played a crucial role in Samsung's speedy recovery from the Galaxy Note 7 crisis with impressive sales figures following their release. However, the Galaxy S8 sales have apparently been slowing down over the last few weeks, prompting Samsung to consider an earlier-than-expected launch of the Galaxy Note 8, a new report from South Korea said Tuesday.
According to The Bell, Galaxy S8 sales reached only 9.8 million units by the end of June, while last year's Galaxy S7 and S7 Edge managed to surpass 12 million during the same two months period following their release. The report said that the sluggish Galaxy S8 sales have forced Samsung to prepone the Galaxy Note 8 launch to early September.
Tuesday's report is in contrast with a recent report from Venture Beat, saying the Galaxy Note 8 could be Samsung's most expensive handset yet, and would be released in the second half of September.
What is evident from these reports is that Samsung has its eyes set on September, the month when Apple is also highly expected to launch its 10th anniversary iPhone, dubbed the iPhone 8. And, if an early September launch of the Galaxy Note 8 is true, it will definitely help the South Korean tech giant get the head start it wants to stay ahead of Apple in the so-called smartphone war.
Meanwhile, Apple is widely reported to be struggling with OLED screen supply constraints as well as with embedding the fingerprint sensor into the phone's display. If true, these production issues may delay the launch of the iPhone 8, leading to a potential global roll out in November and offering Samsung two months of unchallenged reign in the premium smartphone segment.
As far as the specifications are concerned, the Galaxy Note 8 is likely to sport a 6.3-inch edge-to-edge AMOLED display with the same 18.5:9 aspect ratio that we have already seen in the Galaxy S8 and S8+. The device is expected to feature Exynos 8895 and Qualcomm Snapdragon 835 processors, coupled with 6GB of RAM.
The Galaxy Note 8 could also be Samsung's first handset to come with dual rear cameras with 12MP sensors and optical image stabilization support. The phone may also have a 3300mAh battery, which is 200mAh smaller than the ill-fated Galaxy Note 7.
