- Samsung CEO DJ Koh has confirmed that no Galaxy Note device will be released this year
- He cited the global semiconductor shortage as the reason for the cancellation
- The next Samsung Galaxy Note smartphone will be launched in 2022
Samsung co-CEO Dong-Jin Koh, popularly known a DJ Koh, has confirmed that there will be no Galaxy Note 21 smartphone released in 2021. He cited the global semiconductor shortage, which is now beginning to affect key smartphones components, as the reason for this move. It is somewhat understandable, considering that Samsung has three Galaxy S and two Galaxy Note SKUs now. Samsung still plans on launching foldables, such as the Galaxy Fold 3 and Galaxy Z Flip 3 as per schedule. However, this doesn’t mean that Samsung plans on scrapping the Galaxy Note line altogether. It will still launch a Galaxy Note smartphone next year, once the supply situation improves a little.
Also read: Samsung Galaxy Note 21 FE design imagined through concept renders
Rumours about the Samsung Galaxy Note 21 getting scrapped has been doing the rounds of the internet well before the Galaxy S20 series was launched in January. Several reports speculated that the Galaxy Note 20 would be the last of its kind, while others maintained that Samsung Galaxy Note 21 was due for release in mid-2021. Furthermore, the addition of S Pen input support to the Galaxy S21 Ultra may have (rightfully) misled people into believing that the Samsung Galaxy Note 21 has been discontinued.
One can only hope that Samsung uses the extra year to reinvigorate the Galaxy Note franchise in 2021. Over the years, the differences between the Galaxy S and Galaxy Note smartphones have been minimal. Last year’s vanilla Galaxy Note 20 variant offered a poor feature set compared to the Galaxy S20 phones. Even the Galaxy Note 20 Ultra felt like a rebadged Galaxy S20 Ultra.
