14 DAY TRIAL // Reports from the past few days have pointed to the fact that Samsung will officially release the Galaxy S8 on April 18, not during MWC, as it was previously thought. The Korean smartphone maker apparently intends to hold a special event for the unveiling in New York.
A recent report from The Investor states that Samsung might actually showcase the Galaxy S8 much earlier than its official release, in February or March. This means that we can get a glimpse of the upcoming phone approximately one month from now, at the earliest.
The report quoted an anonymous source saying that “There is a possibility of the S8 phones being showcased a month or two ahead of the actual release date.” Mass production of the Galaxy S8 is set to begin in March, the same month when Samsung will most likely roll out 5 million units of the new phone.
Samsung to set shipment target of 60 million for the Galaxy S8
The same report mentions that Samsung has set a shipment goal of 60 million units for the Galaxy S8. The goal is much higher than the number of cumulative shipments for Samsung flagships in the past three years. As such, the Galaxy S5 had a shipment goal of 45 million, the Galaxy S6 45 million, and the S7 48 million.
Samsung hit a shipment record of 70 million with the Galaxy S4 in 2013 and 65 million with the Galaxy S3. “The tech giant has requested its partners to supply (parts) based on the tech giant’s 60 million shipment goal,” a source stated for The Investor.
Samsung is expected to begin rolling out 5 million units of the S8 each month after receiving electronic parts in February from its vendors, including from iris scanner module maker Partron and camera lens firm Sekonix.
Samsung Eletro-Mechanics and Amotech will be supplying radio frequency modules in March, while Hansol Technics will start offering parts from April.