Report: Samsung Galaxy S9 might be revealed in January

The Galaxy S8 series was revealed in March, with global sales kicking off a month later. According to a report from The Bell, things might be quite different when it comes to the Galaxy S9, as Samsung plan on speeding things up a bit.

The report claims that Samsung will take the wraps off its next flagship devices a lot earlier than expected, in January to be more exact. The smartphones will then likely go on sale sometime in February, two months sooner than the current Galaxy S lineup.

This info is based on rumors that Samsung Display will start shipping OLED panels for the upcoming devices to the company in November, which are, as the report claims, normally shipped two to three months before the assembly of the devices is expected to begin. For example, the displays for the Galaxy S8 series were supplied in January and as already mentioned, the smartphones were then announced two months later.

Of course, this is just speculation for now, as Samsung hasn’t yet confirmed the rumor regarding the Galaxy S9 release date. However, the rumor does make sense in a way, as an early release date would possibly give the tech giant an advantage over a few of its competitors. A lot of companies announce their flagship smartphones at MWC in Barcelona, which normally takes place in February or March. At that time, the Galaxy S9 would already be available on the market, giving consumers a great option before they even know what competing smartphones will bring to the table.

A February release date would also be a great strategy for competing against the upcoming iPhone generation, as the launch of Apple’s and Samsung’s flagships would be closer together. The new iPhones will officially be announced on September 12, but some rumors do claim that the flagship of the series, presumably called the iPhone 8, might be released in October or possibly even November, due to supply shortages of AMOLED displays the device should come with.

Again, none of these rumors have been confirmed so far, so do take them with a grain of salt. This means that the upcoming Galaxy S9 smartphones just might be revealed at a later date, possibly in March, just like its predecessors.

One could argue that Samsung doesn’t really need to speed things up based on the fact that its flagship devices have been selling great so far. The company has reportedly already sold over 20 million Galaxy S8 units, with Samsung claiming that sales of the smartphones are around 15 percent higher than those of the Galaxy S7 series in the same time period.