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Samsung Might Have Another Reason Not to Make a New Galaxy Note This Year

Image for article titled Samsung Might Have Another Reason Not to Make a New Galaxy Note This Year
Photo: Sam Rutherford

Late last year, rumors started swirling that the expansion of stylus support across Samsung’s Galaxy phones might herald the demise of the Galaxy Note, but now Samsung just revealed another reason it might not make a new version of its iconic big-screen phone in 2021.

At its recent annual shareholder’s meeting, Samsung co-CEO Koh Dong-jin explained that due to a shortage of chips worldwide (which has recently begun seriously impacting the smartphone industry), Samsung may end up skipping the Galaxy Note this year.

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According to Bloomberg, Koh said, “It could be a burden to unveil two flagship models in a year so it might be difficult to release Note model in 2H [of 2021].” However, Koh also added that it’s possible Samsung may move or change the timeframe of the next Galaxy Note’s launch, and even if there isn’t a new Galaxy Note in 2021, Samsung will “seek to release a Note model next year.”

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Over the past few months, the global chip crunch has started affecting a wide range of markets including the auto industry, game consoles, GPUs, and more, and it seems things are going to get worse before they get better, with Koh saying “There’s a serious imbalance in supply and demand of chips in the IT sector globally.”

Furthermore, according to Samsung Securities analyst MS Hwang in a comment to Bloomberg, it seems PCs and laptops are going to get hit next due to a shortage in display driver ICs, followed by an increase in TV prices as the supply for LCD panels continues to dwindle.

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For longtime fans of the Galaxy Note, Samsung skipping a year could definitely be a bummer. But in the long run, it might be a good thing as it would give Samsung extra development time to come up with new features for the Note, which over the last few years has basically become a mid-year refresh for the previous top-tier Galaxy S phone that happens to have a built-in stylus.

Furthermore, with Samsung having released a stylus that works with the S21 Ultra, even though the combo isn’t a slick as a Note with its built-in pen storage, at least there are options for people who don’t want to give up their S-Pens.

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Either way, while Samsung isn’t killing off the Note and has yet to officially confirm that a new model won’t arrive this year, don’t be surprised if autumn rolls around and there isn’t an expensive new handset with a built-in stylus from Samsung to buy.