Reuters: ‘Samsung May Discontinue Galaxy Note Smartphones’

Joyce Lee and Heekyong Yang, reporting for Reuters:

Samsung Electronics Co Ltd may discontinue its premium Galaxy Note phone next year, sources with knowledge of the matter said, a move that would reflect the sharp drop in demand for high-end smartphones due to the coronavirus pandemic. […]

At present, the South Korean tech giant does not have plans to develop a new version of the Galaxy Note for 2021, three sources said, declining to be identified as the plans were not public. Instead, the Galaxy S series’ top model, the S21, will have a stylus and the next version of Samsung’s foldable phone will be compatible with a stylus, which will be sold separately, one of the sources said.

This sounds like it has nothing to do with demand for high-end phones in general, and everything to do with the Note’s raison d’être — integrated stylus support — being rolled out across Samsung’s entire high-end lineup. Samsung sells high-end regular phones and high-end gimmick phones. The gimmick used to be the stylus, now it’s folding.

★ Tuesday, 1 December 2020