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Samsung could finally say goodbye to the Galaxy Note series next year. That’s according to Korean tech blog The Elec, which suggests the Galaxy Note 20 Ultra and Galaxy Note 20 may be the very last Note-branded devices the company has ever shipped.
Instead, Samsung could offer an S Pen in the next high-end Galaxy S device, the Galaxy S21 Ultra. The classic Galaxy S21 and S21 Plus – if Samsung continues with the three-pronged strategy and naming system of current models – will not feature a stylus. The Galaxy S21 Ultra code name is said to be “Unbound”.
Samsung could also bring the S Pen to the Galaxy Z Fold 3 – the 2021 iteration of its tablet-style foldable flagship, following the release of the Galaxy Z Fold 2 in the coming weeks.
Some have suggested that Samsung has avoided offering the S Pen with a foldable device due to concerns about the durability of the ultra-thin glass which is repeatedly pushed and scribbled. The company will no doubt be looking to boost the strength of this material to bring it to the point where it could reliably withstand the abuse of a stylus.
Now, it’s worth pointing out that this is far from the first time that Samsung has reportedly canceled the Note series. Last September, when Samsung was launching the Galaxy Note 10 series, Evan blass tweeted that the tech giant is actively considering merging the Galaxy S and Note lines into a single family of devices in the first half of the year because their “features overlap so closely.”
In this scenario, the Galaxy Z Fold family would then slip naturally into replacing the Note launches that generally dominate the end of the year for Samsung.
What we are hearing now from Korea could be the realization of this strategy. After two generations of foldable devices, the company might think it’s time to make that change.
This is not a question to be taken lightly. As SamMobile notes, the company would see a massive drop in overall phone shipments, given that it cannot produce foldable displays at the same frequency as conventional displays. At the moment, Samsung is capable of producing around 600,000 foldable panels per month; Conversely, the company ships around 10 million Galaxy Note devices between when those devices are traditionally announced and the end of the year, according to the blog.
From an outsider’s perspective, removing the Note family would make a lot of sense, as there isn’t much that separates Samsung’s phablets from its flagship phones without a stylus. Consider the fact that the Galaxy S20 Ultra and Galaxy Note 20 Ultra have screens of exactly the same size, at 6.9 inches. On the other hand, you would think that there is definitely a branding advantage in keeping the Note name to some extent.
Considering the Note 20 has just landed and the Galaxy S21 is about six or seven months away, we probably won’t be able to get more information on this topic for some time. That said, the S21 launch cycle should give us a lot of information on whether or not Samsung intends to keep the Note line for another attempt. If the S21 Ultra boasts an S Pen, the writing could very well be on the wall.
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