Samsung Galaxy S IV could be unveiled by Feb 2013

The dust has not yet settled on the launch of the Galaxy S III, and it appears that the successor of the handset has already been issued its release date. According to a report by Korea Times, an unnamed official from Samsung told the daily that the company will unveil its next generation flagship smartphone at the 2013 Mobile World Congress event to be held in Barcelona.

According to the report, “Samsung Electronics plans to unveil the latest in its Galaxy line, the S4, at a European technology exhibition in February, according to company officials and local parts suppliers for the technology giant. The timetable was released just three days after rival Apple introduced the iPhone 5, which has received a mixed response from industry experts and consumers as it is seemingly lacking in innovative features. ``Samsung is ready to unveil the next Galaxy smartphone _ the Galaxy S4 _ at early next year’s mobile world congress (MWC) in the Spanish city of Barcelona,’’ said an official from the firm asking not to be identified, Sunday. The new device is expected to hit shelves globally in March at the latest.”

The successor to the S III is on the way

This definitely should come as interesting news to Samsung fans. When this handset is launched, it is expected to feature a lot of improvements over the Galaxy S III, and the most notable feature should be the increase in the size of the display. The anonymous Samsung source has stated that the display will be increased to 5-inches and may sport the flexible display technology; however, there is no certainty of the latter happening.

The report goes on to state, “Executives from Samsung’s local parts suppliers said the company’s new flagship smartphone will "definitely use’’ LTE networks. It will also sport its in-house Exynos-branded application processors and quad-core chips. The S3 is using both Samsung’s Exynos and Qualcomm’s Snapdragon processors depending on the country. "Samsung is asking Apple to pay more to use its mobile application processors produced at its plant in Austin, Texas. The release of the S4 means more market share for Samsung as it is the only firm that can guarantee on-time delivery, output commitment and better pricing for mobile application processors,’’ said one executive.”

The official went on to state that Samsung intends on implementing the one year product schedule and the Samsung Galaxy S IV may be the first to match this strategy. The source goes on to claim that the handset will feature the rectangular styling with rounded corners, the same which is found on the S III but is expected to have some external design changes.

Samsung has also stated that they expect the Galaxy S III to pass the 30 million mark by the end of this year after completing 20 million units sold in a mere 3 months.

This definitely comes as interesting news as with the iPhone 5 set to hit stores in a few days, the possibility that Samsung will launch a new handset in the next few months may put off those looking to upgrade, and more so since Samsung is bringing forward the release date of their next generation smartphone to March at the latest.

Let us know your thoughts on Samsung unveiling the Galaxy S IV by February 2013 in your comments.