The Galaxy Note range is being put under pressure to deliver or disappear. Leaked information suggest that an under-performing Galaxy Note 9 could be the last of the Note handsets to reach the market. If Samsung wants to be radical and disrupt the market, then it should commit to cancelling the Note 9 after this month’s launch of the phablet.
After all, the Note 9’s replacements are already in production.
I doubt Samsung will say anything publicly about this now (because everyone knows about The Osborne Effect, right?) but even if the Note 9 is a success, I would argue that the correct decision is to cancel the Note family and move on with something new.
When it started the Galaxy Note family was seen as trailblazing hardware, with a new form factor (the large almost tablet like screen), a new peripheral (in the S-Pen), and a new focus (on enterprise). Back in 2011 the iPhone was sporting a 3.5 inch screen, and the Note’s 5.3 inch screen was seen as ‘gigantic. How times have changed. Large screened devices can be found at every point in a portfolio, enterprise software is built into the software of most handsets, and user interfaces have evolved to reduce the impact of a stylus.
The Galaxy Note 9’s biggest potential win for Samsung is to run interference on Apple’s new iPhone, which will be launched a few weeks after the Note 9 goes on sale.
Samsung already has a replacement for the Note series, and it is already in production. The ‘Plus’ series of Galaxy S handsets have a similar screen size, similar software, and a similar mission goal to the Note series. Just add in physical support for the S-Pen, and the Galaxy S line-up can handle the flagship smartphone, the phablet, and (with the upcoming ‘low cost’ version of the S10) the entry-level Galaxy S Mini.
Cancelling the Note 9 would not only bolster the demand for the Galaxy S line up in 2019, but it would leave the Q3 slot open to be more than ‘block the iPhone’. It could revert back to being the ’new technology’ slot.
And if we're talking about new technology in a smartphone from Samsung, then perhaps the ambitious folding screen equipped Galaxy X will take the August 2019 slot?