Without a doubt, the Galaxy S11 will be one of the most important Android handsets of the first half of the upcoming year. We’ve probably told you the same thing about every Galaxy S model that preceded it. But, for the first time in the iconic Samsung phone line’s history, we might witness a change we didn’t necessarily see coming. The Galaxy S11 might not be called Galaxy S11, no matter how much sense that name makes. Instead, Something will go for something entirely different, which could help it better compete against the iPhone, but also against its biggest Android rival.
The news comes from well-known insider Ice Universe, who posted two short tweets on the matter, without revealing too many details about the change.
Galaxy S20
— Ice universe (@UniverseIce) December 24, 2019
Next year is 2020, and 20 is a new beginning.
— Ice universe (@UniverseIce) December 24, 2019
If all this is true, and Ice has been right about Samsung before. The Galaxy S10 series will be followed by the Galaxy S20 series.
A few reports in previous years suggested that Samsung might go for a different Galaxy S to celebrate the tenth anniversary of the flagship phone, but that didn’t happen. Going forward, however, a progression from S10 to S20 makes plenty of sense for marketing the handsets.
Apple is expected to launch an iPhone 12 in 2020, and iPhone 12 will dominate the news until September. Galaxy S11 sounds like a phone that’s a generation behind the iPhone 12, and the fact is that each new Galaxy S phone is a better competitor for the iPhone that launched a few months earlier, not the iPhone that follows. Switching to Galaxy S20 would eliminate that perception, at least for customers who’re not exactly familiar with the Galaxy S series. Going forward, Samsung might launch the S30 in 2021, and then the S40.
If that sounds familiar, that’s because it’s what Huawei has been doing in recent years — we’re looking at the Huawei P40 and Mate 40 Pro for 2020. Huawei may be locked out of Google services, but its Samsung’s main rival in the Android ecosystem.
It’s also worth noting that Samsung has been using this numbering system for mid-range devices from the Galaxy A and M series, phones like the Galaxy A90 or M40, respectively. Placing the Galaxy S — and the Galaxy Note? — on the same naming scheme also makes sense in the grand scheme of things.
Whatever the name, the Galaxy S11 or S20 will be one of the Android phones to pay attention to this March.
