New report corroborates rumors about the demise of Samsung's Galaxy Note line

A new report suggests that Samsung might indeed be retiring its Galaxy Note line of devices due to poor demand for high-end phones and increased focus on the development of foldable devices.

Murmurs of the possible demise of Samsung’s Galaxy Note line have been doing the rounds for a while now, with recent reports suggesting that the South Korean firm might retire the S Pen phablet in 2021 and focus on expanding its foldable phone offerings. Now, another report from Reuters citing people familiar with the matter provides credence to earlier reports of the firm’s possible plans.

The publication states that the move might come due to a sharp decline in demand for expensive, high-end smartphones. Therefore, the company is reportedly not developing a Note branded smartphone for 2021, which falls in line with earlier reports about there being no information on the development of a Note21. The report also corroborates the rumors about the S21 Ultra shipping with support for the S Pen, adding that the S Pen will be sold separately.

Counterpoint analyst Tom Kang said to Reuters that the sales of the Note series are expected to fall to eight million units this year, which is close to a 20% drop overall. The S series flagships' sales are also expected to fall by five million units. The drop in demand along with the increasingly shrinking difference in capabilities between the Galaxy Note and the S line could explain why the company aims to consolidate its traditional smartphone flagship offerings and devote resources to developing new form factors.

Samsung is expected to launch the Galaxy S21 series sometime in January which will reportedly be priced lower than its predecessors. It will be interesting to see how the company markets these devices and if it divulges more information about the plans for the Note line.

Source: Reuters