Samsung Galaxy S III said possibly on track

Samsung's decision to skip unveiling the Galaxy S III at this week's just-ended Mobile World Congress may not have been a sign of a delay but a competitive move to keep its final plans a secret. Leaks from unnamed Samsung officials to ZDNet had the company still on track to ship the third-generation phone in April, a year on from the launch of the Galaxy S II. It may have timed it for as late as the summer, but was taking advantage of a lack of immediate releases from Chinese firms, as well as a presumed half-year wait from April to the next iPhone, to "move ahead of competitors."

Outside of Samsung's native South Korea, the UK was considered next on the list, likely using the summer Olympics as an opportunity for heavy marketing. Samsung is a core sponsor of the London-based games.

Officially, Samsung has declined to say when and where it might promote its third-generation flagship. It's believed to have been skipping its habit of launching its biggest cellphone of the year at Mobile World Congress out of a desire to get the actual release closer to the release date, including for the US.

The device itself has had numerous rumors that point to it pushing the limits of what's acceptable for size in a smartphone, moving up to a 4.8-inch screen, a quad-core Exynos 4412 processor, and Android 4.0 while making both 4G LTE and NFC tag reading common features.

Much is riding on the Galaxy S III for Samsung, which was just edged out by Apple for the title of top smartphone maker during the fall. The S II was the key driver in Samsung's smartphone sales for 2011, and a refresh may be vital to dampening chances that the iPhone stays ahead. Samsung may be overestimating the wait for the next iPhone, however, as most have interpreted the iPhone 4S' October release as a one-time delay from the usual summer schedule.

By Electronista Staff

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