What you need to know
- Samsung has warned that it may not be able to introduce a new Galaxy Note this year.
- The tech giant says it could be a burden to launch two flagship models in 2021 due to the ongoing global semiconductor shortage.
- Samsung fans may have to wait until 2022 for a true successor to the Galaxy Note 20 Ultra.
At its annual shareholders meeting today, Samsung warned that it may not be able to launch a new Galaxy Note phone in 2021. As reported by Bloomberg, Samsung expects the ongoing global semiconductor shortage to have a serious impact on its business in the next quarter.
Samsung's mobile chief Koh Dong-jin told reporters:
Note series is positioned as a high-end model in our business portfolio. It could be a burden to unveil two flagship models in a year so it might be difficult to release Note model in 2H. The timing of Note model launch can be changed but we seek to release a Note model next year.
While multiple reports had claimed last year that Samsung had decided to kill the Galaxy Note line in 2021, DJ Koh's statement suggests the South Korean tech giant isn't ready to bid-adieu to the Note series just yet. However, the Bloomberg report notes that the move is geared toward streamlining Samsung's smartphone lineup, and not just due to the chip shortage.
As revealed by a recent report from Reuters, Qualcomm is struggling to meet the demand for its Snapdragon 888 chipset due to the global shortage, affecting Samsung's Galaxy S21 series phones. The production of Samsung's best cheap Android phones is also said to have been hit due to a Qualcomm chip shortage.
