WSJ: Samsung to launch Galaxy Note 5 in mid-August, in order to avoid iPhone overlap

Here’s an interesting report from the highly-respectable Wall Street Journal: Samsung is reportedly moving up the release date of the Note 5 to August, in order to avoid competing for attention with Apple’s iPhone.

According to a person familiar with the matter consulted by WSJ, Samsung is going to launch the Note 5 around mid-August, in order to give the phablet “some breathing room” ahead of what’s expected to be heated competition with the new generation of the iPhone.

The launch event could take place in a major US city, according to the source, and not the usual venue, Berlin’s IFA trade show, where the first four generations of the Galaxy Note were introduced. Exactly which city will host the event is yet to be decided.

The report is short on details, but if it’s accurate it would be a major departure from Samsung’s established routine. Moving up the Note 5’s release could be perceived as a sign of insecurity in the face of Apple’s onslaught, though a bigger reason could be a desire to accelerate the release of the Note 5 in order to make up for the underwhelming performance of the Galaxy S6.

Samsung is also reportedly working on an oversized version of the Galaxy S6 Edge, that was rumored to launch sooner than the Note 5. It could be that Samsung has decided to launch the Note 5-S6 Edge Plus duo early, though there’s no mention of the former in WSJ’s report.

Some features that have been tied to the Note 5 include a 5.7-inch Quad HD display, a Samsung Exynos 7422 ePoP (all-in-one) processor, and a metal and glass construction that is similar to the Galaxy S6. The S6 Edge Plus is aid to come with the same display (but in a curved shape), a Snapdragon 808 processor, 32GB of storage, and 16MP rear camera.

Samsung has previously denied a rumor that it would release the Note 5 as early as July.

A launch in mid-August would put the Note 5 just a few weeks ahead of the expected schedule, but we can speculate that Samsung plans to actually release the device much earlier than last year. In 2014, the Note 4, despite being announced ahead of the iPhone 6 and 6 Plus, hit the markets weeks after Apple’s phones. Samsung may be keen to avoid repeating that scenario.

Finally, if this accelerated schedule turns out to be true, the next generation of the Galaxy S series could be moved up as well. Let us know your thoughts.