Samsung Galaxy S8 may be coming sooner than expected, reportedly dubbed SM-950 and 955

The Note 7 might not be the latest hotness (bad pun, sorry) from Samsung much longer, at least if new reports of a faster release for the Samsung Galaxy S8 pan out.

Okay, so we all know the Galaxy Note 7 has been the talk of the virtual town for all the wrong reasons recently, whether at Android Authority, big news outlets, or even when talking to that annoying neighbor that sees you have a Samsung phone and asks if it is going to explode. Alright, last example might be unique to me.

Samsung is working hard to turn around a bad situation but there are some that suggest it’s too late for the Note 7’s reputation to rebound.  This might be somewhat true among the casual consumer types that might have considered the Note 7 (which arguably is a very small portion of the Note 7 owner population), but those who read sites like AA are probably more willing to give the Note 7 another chance once the battery fiasco is behind it.

Still, there have been plenty of rumors suggesting Samsung will move up the timeframe for the Galaxy S8 in order to put the Note 7 drama behind it and get back in the news in a more positive light. A new report from the Korea Herald backs up this claim, quoting Kim Sang-pyo, an analyst for KB Investment & Securities.

“If Samsung’s flagship smartphone launch is delayed to the end of the first quarter of next year, the profitability of the mobile business division could be worsened next year,” states the analyst. This isn’t the first time were we’ve heard rumors that the S line might come sooner than normal, but with the bad press from the Note 7 recall swirling, we wouldn’t be too shocked to see the phone debut a month or two earlier than originally planned.

In the middle of all this, insiders reporting to SamMobile have now revealed the new model numbers for the Galaxy S8: the SM-G950 and the SM-G955. Reportedly one of the models will be smaller screen, the other larger – similar to the S7 and S7 Edge, though both phones might have Edge display this time around. Internally, they are reportedly going by the codenames Dream and Dream2.

While the existence of model number information doesn’t exactly mean that the Galaxy S8 is coming any sooner, it does indicate that the talk inside of Samsung is likely already starting to shift towards what is next. For those wondering why the models jumped from SM-G930 to G950, four is considered unlucky in South Korea, and bad luck is something Samsung certainly wants to avoid right now.

What do you think, would it be wise for Samsung to get those recalled Note 7’s out and then do whatever it can to get the S8 out to help patch things over? Or should the company take its time and simply focus on marketing and customer support to smooth over its current situation? Let us know your thoughts down in the comments.