Samsung fans might want to make sure they have some funds available after the holidays as a leak now suggests the follow-up to the Galaxy S20 series may be coming sooner than expected. While it's not uncommon for the South Korean company to release its flagship series in the first quarter, it seems the Samsung Galaxy S21 could become available as early as January.
The Galaxy S21 is sure to be a coveted phone line for Samsung's user base. While not much has leaked regarding its specs, based on the current flagship series, the new series will likely be powerful devices. All the phones in the Galaxy S20 series run on the Qualcomm Snapdragon 865 CPU, and with the exception of the lower-end S20 FE, they all have 3200 x 1440 Dynamic AMOLED HDR10+ displays along with a 120Hz refresh rate. They each also have impressive camera arrays, which, again excluding the S20 FE, can all shoot video in 8K. In other words, the Galaxy S20 series is already setting a pretty high bar.
For those who didn't get their hands on a Galaxy S20, or just like the idea of upgrading their phone each year, Jon Prosser has now indicated that the Galaxy S21 series will launch during the first month of the year. Via Twitter, Prosser said that the series is expected to be announced on January 14, 2021, which is a Thursday. The phones would also be available for pre-order that day and the series would officially go on sale two weeks later, on Friday, January 29. The series will reportedly consist of three phones: a Galaxy S21 base model, a Galaxy S21+, and a premium Galaxy S21 Ultra. In addition, they will also be available in black, white, gray, silver, violet, and pink color options.
Why January For Galaxy S21?
Some on Twitter took issue with Prosser's supposed leaked timeline as Samsung doesn't usually release its phones so early in the year. The Galaxy S10 and S20 lines, for example, were announced in February and released in March of last year and this year, respectively. However, others seemed to take the tipster at his word, confirming at the very least, that the colors mentioned are in line with previous rumors. Noticeably absent from the leak was a Fan Edition of the phone, although that's not surprising considering Samsung didn't reveal the existence of the Galaxy S20 FE until this September.
If the leak is correct, one possible reason for moving up this schedule could be Samsung is trying to build on its recent momentum in smartphone sales. While it has been the global leader in smartphone sales for many years, Samsung stumbled in Q2 of this year due to the pandemic which allowed Huawei to pull into a statistical tie for first place. However, this past quarter, Samsung definitively retook the number one spot, securing a 22-percent market share, recording its highest quarterly shipments of the past three years. While the Galaxy S20 FE may help the company stay in first place this quarter, the sheen on the October-released phone may well wear off by January. Samsung also has to compete with Apple's new iPhone 12 lineup, announced last month. Therefore, having a brand-new premium smartphone series ready by the end of January to compete with the latest iPhone models may help Samsung win over the post-Christmas phone shoppers.
Source: Jon Prosser/Twitter