Report: Samsung to promote the S6 Edge Plus ahead of the Note 5

Samsung’s unique Edge display has proven rather popular this year and industry sources from Korea are suggesting that the upcoming Galaxy S6 Edge Plus will be receiving the bulk of Samsung’s manufacturing and market resources when it launches alongside the Galaxy Note 5 later this year.

The sources state that Samsung’s Galaxy S6 Edge Plus will see a familiar global rollout, but that production of the Note 5 will be more limited. Note 5 stock will instead be reserved for markets where previous generation Note sales have been traditionally strong, such as South Korea and the US.

Since the original unveiling of the Galaxy Note Edge, there has always been the possibility that Samsung might choose to move its high-end devices over to the Edge display, once production capabilities were fully realized, while gradually phasing out flat panel designs. If the rumors are correct, this appears to be what Samsung has planned.

Furthermore, additional production capacity now means that Samsung can meet the full demand for Edge display devices. With the launch of the Galaxy S6, the company could not produce enough Edge variants to keep up with consumer appetites and apparently overestimated demand for the regular Galaxy S6. This miscalculation has hit the company’s profits this year.

Samsung is likely attempting to avoid the same mistake from earlier this year and wants to prevent the Galaxy S6 Edge Plus and Note 5 from affecting each other’s sales. Removing the Note 5 from its less popular markets should do the trick.

This could also have the added benefit of saving on marketing costs, as Samsung won’t have to try to differentiate the two devices in some regions. In markets without a Note 5, Samsung can simply market the S6 Edge Plus as a larger version of its earlier flagship phone.

However, this strategy hinges on customers preferring the Edge display over the regular Note 5, which may not be the case. The higher cost associated with Samsung’s Edge display may not go down well with all consumers, who may have preferred an option to pick up a slightly lower cost regular Note 5.

Other than the curved display, hardware specifications between the Galaxy S6 Edge Plus and Note 5 are very similar. Both are rumoured to have a QHD display, 16 megapixel camera, 3000mAh battery and 4GB of RAM. A Snapdragon 808 SoC is expected for the Note 5, while an Exynos chip may appear in the S6 Edge Plus.

Do you prefer the curved Galaxy S6 Edge Plus over the Note 5? Do you think that Samsung would be making a mistake by moving away from the Note brand name in some markets?