Every once in a while something comes along that’s worth a wait, and I think the Samsung Galaxy S III will be one of those things. We’ve all been expecting Samsung’s next flagship to show its face at MWC in February, but according to the Verge, Samsung may have other plans.
Anonymous sources who spoke with the Verge claim that the SGSIII will still be available “before summer,” but that Mobile World Congress in Barcelona may not be the most beneficial launch venue. Last year, the Samsung Galaxy S II was debuted at MWC and though it was available in Europe almost immediately, the U.S. had to wait quite a while before AT&T, Sprint, and T-Mobile were all comfortable with their model.
That said, the Galaxy S II still has a little life in it yet, and it would be just plain silly for Samsung to interrupt its success too early. A look at the numbers, if you don’t mind:
- In less than a month, Samsung sold 1 million Galaxy S IIs in its home country of South Korea
- Samsung sold 3 million units of the Samsung Galaxy S II in its first 55 days on the market
- After 85 days on the market, units sold jumped to the 5 million mark
- By September, the company shipped over 10 million units
- At this point, 1 in every 10 South Koreans is carrying a Galaxy S II
Meanwhile, the original Galaxy S is still selling well, topping 20 million units sold.
No doubt the Galaxy S III will be a beast, and Samsung is well aware of its mobile prowess by this point. A bevy of new phones — most of which are meant for the European market — will launch at MWC. Still, after the success of earlier generation Galaxy S models, Samsung knows its consumers will wait a tad longer to hear about the SIII as long as it shows up on shelves shortly thereafter.
From the report this morning, we believe that will be the case.