Apple’s iPhone 5 became the best-selling smartphone in the world shortly after its launch last fall, and hype surrounding the upcoming iPhone 5S is starting to build. Rivals are preparing new flagship smartphones of their own to combat the new iPhone, however, which is expected to launch late in the third quarter. According to unnamed industry sources speaking with Digitimes, we can expect new flagship Android phones to launch around the same time as the iPhone 5S from several of Apple’s top competitors, including Samsung, LG and HTC.
The report claims that Samsung’s sequel to the popular Galaxy Note II phablet will launch sometime in the second half of the year. The Galaxy Note III will apparently feature a 5.99-inch Super AMOLED display with 1080p full HD resolution and an eight-core Samsung Eynos 5 Octa processor.
HTC is also prepping a new high-end Android phone that will launch as a sequel to the Butterfly, or DROID DNA as it was branded in the U.S. The Butterfly 2 will sport a full HD display as well as an UltraPixel camera and BoomSound speakers similar to the ones found on the HTC One.
Finally, LG’s Optimus G2 will launch sometime in the second half of 2013, according to the report. The G2 will reportedly include a 5-inch full HD display and a Qualcomm Snapdragon 800 chipset.
As the full HD screens grow larger and specs are packed tighter into these new flagship phones, Apple is expected to launch an iterative update this year that features the same 4-inch Retina display as the iPhone 5 with an upgraded processor and a new rear camera module.
