Samsung shoots down the Galaxy S4 rumor

The Korea Times reported on Monday, citing unnamed company officials, that Samsung is getting ready to announce the next-generation Galaxy S4 smartphone at Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, Spain in February 2013, followed by March 2013 availability. The story claimed the Galaxy SIII successor would be “more than enough to curb Apple’s latest iPhone”. However, the report is inaccurate as Samsung was quick to deny the rumor via its Korean account on Twitter…

Samsung wrote on Twitter (translated from Korean):

Please note that some media reported speculation that the Galaxy S’s subsequent models will be released.

The report, Samsung wrote, is “a simple rumor” and “is not true”.

The Korea Times, the oldest English-language newspaper in South Korea, claimed the Galaxy S4 would feature a massive 5.5-inch display that would have put it on par with the recently released Galaxy Note II phablet which also has a 5.5-inch screen. In comparison, the current Galaxy SIII has a 4.8-inch display.

However, I still think a new Galaxy flagship handset is up for introduction some time next year. This year, Samsung steered away from Mobile World Congress, choosing instead to announce the Galaxy SIII at a May media event in London.

Just like Apple stopped exhibiting at the MacWorld show, Samsung obviously figured its flagship device deserves an event of its own rather than risk getting drowned in a bunch of product announcements by competitors at Mobile World Congress, the world’s biggest mobile devices trades show (Apple was never an exhibitor there).

Of course the S4 is in the works and it goes without saying that it would most certainly go head to head next year with Apple’s iPhone 6, or whatever Cupertino chooses to call it.

Samsung was wise enough to temper expectations as it’s pushing to ship 30 million Galaxy SIII units by year’s end. Judging by the current sales data and aggressive anti-Apple advertising, Samsung is on track to achieve the self-imposed milestone.

On an unrelated note, the company took to its blog following trial loss in order to “reveal the truth from an objective point of view” concerning design of its products “until the day all misunderstandings have been cleared up”.

I also found this bit in The Korea Times story mentioned in this article:

Samsung is asking Apple to pay more to use its mobile application processors produced at its plant in Austin, Texas. The release of the S4 means more market share for Samsung as it is the only firm that can guarantee on-time delivery, output commitment and better pricing for mobile application processors.

Now, let’s not get ahead of ourselves with premature conclusions.

Samsung’s components biz is separate from its mobile devices division and even though the company’s chairman didn’t respond well to the trial outcome, Apple is Samsung’s biggest client and prices defined in these multi-year supply contracts are set in stone.

Apple and Samsung continue to be tangled in a complicated web of approximately 50 patent disputes across continents. Apple recently asked the court to add the Galaxy S III to the list of products that are in violation.

In the meantime, Samsung threatened to sue Apple over 4G LTE implementation in the iPhone 5, but not before its engineers had a chance to get their hands on the device and carefully analyze hardware and software technologies Apple tapped for ultrafast LTE cellular networking.

I take it that Samsung fans among our readers are looking forward to the Galaxy S4, regardless of when it’s going to be released?