Samsung Galaxy S9, LG G7 to Be Launched Next January

As soon as the release of new smartphones of this year was wrapped up with the launch of the iPhone X, the market is turning its eyes to new products that will be introduced early next year. It is forecast that new products will be launched earlier than last year as competition for market shares among Samsung Electronics, Apple, and Chinese makers are intensifying. With the forecast, interest in new smartphones is growing such as product images exposed mostly by information technology (IT)-specialized media outlets.

According to the industry on November 26, major smartphone makers are expected move up new product launches and start selling new products as early as January of next year.

It is said that Samsung Electronics will launch the 'Galaxy S9' and the 'Galaxy S9 Plus (+)' next January. Until now, Samsung Electronics has taken the wrap off flagship products in separate events in the US and the UK every March. But it is predicted that flagship products will be launched about two months earlier next year. Recently, IT media Venture Beat said that Samsung Electronics would release its next-generation premium smartphone at the CES 2018 which will be held in Las Vegas next January. Evan Blass, a prominent IT blogger, also said that Samsung Electronics will release the Galaxy S9 at the CES event next year, saying, "The fingerprint sensor will be rearranged and a rear dual camera will be loaded among others. Evan Blass has so far earned a lot of trust from netizens by accurately predicting product information about major smartphones.

It is said in the smartphone industry that the Samsung Galaxy S9 is expected to launch the Galaxy S9 in order to hold the iPhone X in check, which was recently launched and is gaining in immense popularity. The Galaxy S9 is expected to inherit the design of the Galaxy S8 design and will feature 5.8- and 6.2-inch Super AMOLED Infiniti displays and a dual-camera. Qualcomm Snapdragon 845 is expected to be loaded into the new smartphone as its mobile AP.

It is also said that LG Electronics is considering a plan to release its next product, the G7, in January of next year. That is a month earlier than the opening of the previous G5 and G6 at the Mobile World Congress (MWC) in Spain in late February each year. Analysis says that the G6 hit the shelves more than a month earlier than its competitors and enjoyed some first-mover effects and this experience impacted the decision. It is predicted that LG will aggressively carry out sales and marketing activities by moving up the launches of the G&’s next products.

Foreign news media such as Tech Advisor forecast that the G7 will be loaded with the same Snapdragon 845 as the Galaxy S8 and an OLED display. There is also a possibility that the fingerprint sensor may be mounted under the display, not on the back.

Apple is also expected to release a new budget smartphone, 'the iPhone SE2' early next year. According to foreign news outlets such as the Taiwanese Economic Daily, Apple is preparing a new 4-inch product. The iPhone SE2 will be produced in Bangalore, India and target emerging markets such as India, Indonesia and Southeast Asia. Given that the iPhone SE was released in March of last year, Apple is likely to take the warp off its sequel in the first quarter of next year. It is said that the iPhone SE2 will feature a touch ID solution for fingerprint recognition, a 2GB RAM and a 32GB storage capacity, a 5 megapixel camera on the front, a 12-megapixel camera on the back and A10 Fusion Chipset for running Apple's latest operating system, iOS11 among others.

"The specifications of the latest smartphones have been upgraded and differences among products have narrowed in terms of design. These are current major trends," said an official in the smartphone industry.