If you were holding out hope that Samsung’s Galaxy Note line might make a triumphant return, we have bad news. ETNews reports that Samsung is ending production of the Galaxy Note line at the end of the year. If you’ve been following Samsung new in recent months, this shouldn’t come as much of a surprise. Late last year, rumors began to spread that Samsung would skip a new model of the Note in 2021. Samsung initially denied these rumors, but eventually acknowledged that the chip shortage could force its hand. It’s now nearly December, and the Note 21 is nowhere to be found.
Samsung reportedly ends Galaxy Note production
According to ETNews, Samsung has excluded the Galaxy Note from its annual smartphone production plan for 2022. In addition to killing the product line, Samsung is reportedly pulling the existing models as well. Instead, Samsung will bring the iconic features of the Note line to the Galaxy S22 Ultra.
Leaks have suggested that next year’s Ultra model will feature a built-in S Pen. This was the flagship feature that previously set the Note line apart from the smaller S models. A few months ago, detailed renders of the Galaxy S22 Ultra began popping up online. The S22 Ultra appears to be a full-on Galaxy Note successor. It’s going to be much thicker than the rest of the S22 line to accommodate the S Pen, and its rumored 6.8-inch display is nearly as large as that of the Galaxy Note 20 Ultra.
Samsung has not actually announced the Galaxy S22 series yet, so take all of this with a grain of salt. Then again, when was the last time Samsung managed to keep a phone launch secret? If the Galaxy S22 Ultra looks like we expect it to, there won’t be any need for a new Note.
Why would Samsung kill the Note?
In its report, ETNews says that Samsung is moving on from the Note line to focus on making foldable phones. Samsung will reportedly be able to reduce costs, stabilize the production yields, and improve process efficiency. The company hopes to replace the sales volume of the Note line with the Galaxy Z Fold and Galaxy Z Flip in the years to come. The report says that Samsung shipped 12.7 million Note units in 2019 and 9.7 million in 2020. Meanwhile, Samsung’s sales target for its foldable phones in 2022 is 13 million units — outpacing what the Note line has achieved lately.
Traditionally, Samsung has launched its Galaxy S flagship in the first half of the year and its Galaxy Note in the second half. Going forward, the Z Fold and Z Flip will presumably take over as Samsung’s second-half flagship device. According to recent reports, Samsung plans to reveal the Galaxy S22 series in early February 2022. Samsung held its launch event for the Galaxy S21 this January, but chip shortages and shipping delays make it unlikely that the company would aim for such an early launch in 2022. ETNews claims that Samsung will kick off mass production of the next Galaxy Z models in the third quarter of next year.
