We all know the Samsung Galaxy Note 8 is coming... Samsung told us during the fallout of the Note 7 battery fires that the Note 8 was definitely in 2017’s portfolio. The question has always been ‘when?’. Now Samsung has given us a better idea of its plans for the phablet.
This is one of the biggest tactical decisions facing Samsung Mobile during the second half of this year. Announce the device too early and the public’s focus will switch back to Apple ahead of the launch of the iPhone 8. Leave it too late and Tim Cook’s wonderslab will dominate the digital column inches. There’s going to be a juggernaut of views once the iPhone handsets are available in store so that needs to be considered as well.
Samsung Mobile’s DJ Koh, speaking at a meet and greet with local journalists in Taiwan has confirmed that the Note 8 will launch in late August and go on sale in two waves, starting in September. Sammobile reports:
According to a report out of Taiwan, Koh said that there are a considerable number of Galaxy Note users in Taiwan. The company has sold more than 2.3 million Note units in Taiwan so far since 2011. He also mentioned that the Galaxy Note 8 will be announced by the end of August.
Koh added that the Galaxy Note 8 will be released in the first wave of launch markets in early September while other markets will have to wait until October.
“The end of August” ties in nicely with the suggestions of a Samsung event on the 23rd of August in New York. That’s later than last year’s launch of the Note 7 (widely seen as Samsung going early) and gives the South Korean company a clear window of time before the expected launch of the new iPhones in, you guessed it, early September.
It also gives Samsung time to get the handset out to select reviewers ahead of Berlin’s IFA event, when the world’s tech press will descend on the German capital to see the latest consumer electronics. The Note 8 will be announced before that event so Samsung can manage the story from launch and first promotions through to introducing the handset at this notable trade show.
It also puts down a marker that Apple is going to have to be measured against.
While the Note 8 will never tempt Cook’s Faithful to switch, those who are on the fence or simply looking for ‘the best smartphone’ are going to have an interesting choice.
Assuming that the two launch territories will be South Korea and the United States of America, the Note 8 looks ready to be in-store a week or two before Apple’s new iPhone models. The bigger question might be which iPhones the Note 8 will be fighting. With the flagship iPhone 8 facing a potential delay into October or November before it reaches consumers, the cutting edge Note 8 may be taking on the refreshed but decidedly second-tier iPhone 7S and 7S Plus.
That’s a match up Samsung should be confident of winning.
Now read about the technology that Samsung hopes will make the Note 8 a winning smartphone...
