About a month ago, Galaxy S24 rumors said that Samsung is preparing to give the next-gen Galaxy S model an earlier-than-usual launch event. Samsung will supposedly unveil the Galaxy S24, S24 Plus, and S24 Ultra on or around January 17th in San Francisco. That’s several weeks earlier than the Galaxy S23. Not only that, but Samsung is expected to return to the US for the Galaxy S24 Unpacked event. The company chose to launch the Galaxy Z Fold 5 and Flip 5 foldables in Korea a few months ago.
A different report from Korea offers similar claims for the Galaxy S24 launch. Samsung is apparently eying a mid-January event for the Galaxy S24 models, described as “AI phones” that will focus on generative AI features.
The new report comes from Korean outlet SBS.biz, which claims Samsung is getting ready to launch two handsets in the coming month.
The first will be the Galaxy S23 FE domestic launch happening in December. This will mark the first time in three years that Samsung has launched an FE version in Korea. The handset has been available in international markets for a few weeks now. It’ll reportedly retail for around 800,000 won ($607) in Samsung’s home market.
Then, Samsung will unveil the Galaxy S24 in San Francisco around January 17th.
SBS.biz calls the handset an “AI phone” that will feature generative AI features. Previous leaks said as much about the Galaxy S24, with Samsung confirming that it plans to launch an AI phone next year. Samsung never identified the Galaxy S24 as an AI phone during its quarterly earnings remarks, however. But the Galaxy S24 seems like the likeliest candidate.
The choice of venue doesn’t go unnoticed in the Korean report. SBS.biz says that Samsung will unveil the Galaxy S24 in the “home of Apple.” I said previously that the iPhone 15 might give Samsung a big reason to release the Galaxy S24 ahead of schedule. But that might be just one part of the story.
The entire smartphone market has been in a slump this year, with Apple being the obvious exception. There’s still plenty of demand for iPhones, especially the expensive iPhone 15 Pro and 15 Pro Max models.
Samsung’s mobile division has also been somewhat successful, with Galaxy S23 sales improving over its predecessor. Samsung’s recent earnings reports highlighted the mobile division’s strength compared to Samsung’s semiconductor division.
Previous reports said Samsung is looking to make the most of smartphone sales to compensate for semiconductor losses. SBS.biz also makes a note of this development. Samsung’s semiconductor division posted a deficit of 3.7 trillion won ($2.81 billion) in the third quarter. The mobile division reported an operating profit of 3.3 trillion ($2.50 billion).
But Samsung noted signs that the semiconductor business would improve in the coming quarters. While uncertainties will persist, Samsung expects the memory market conditions to improve in 2024.
As for the mobile business, the September 2023 quarter already delivered increased demand from consumers, with the Galaxy S23 maintaining a “solid momentum,” per Samsung. Going into 2024, Samsung expects the mobile division to deliver “annual growth in revenue and profit in 2024 while optimizing resources to adapt to unstable market changes and improve profitability.”
With all that in mind, Samsung needs to have the Galaxy S24 in stores as soon as possible, not just to counter the iPhone 15 but to ensure continued profitability.
