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Galaxy Note 8 Launch Date Loves Apple's Extraordinary Mistake

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This week we’ve also heard from Samsung a rough timetable for the launch of the Galaxy Note 8. It will be revealed to the world’s press in late August, and it will go on sale in two waves, the first starting in early September. Samsung is bringing its best handset into battle, while Apple has little choice but to send in the iPhone’s minor league pitchers.

The announced schedule allows Samsung to gain first mover advantage against Apple in two key areas.

First of all, and Assuming that the new iPhone portfolio will be announced in early September (naturally Taniyama-Shimura is in effect here), the launch of the Note 8 will come roughly two weeks before the Berlin IFA consumer electronics show with the iPhone launch after the European event.

The Note 8 will have the opportunity to set the 2017 smartphone standard; to put screen size, design, and camera quality at the forefront of the discussions; and to shape the media landscape to be more favourable towards the South Korean vision of a mobile device.

Secondly… as Tim Cook takes to the stage to show off Apple’s latest handsets, Samsung will be putting the Note 8 on retail shelves across South Korea and America and in the hands of consumers at the same time as Cook talks about the late arrival of the iPhone 8. Not only is  Samsung ready to directly challenge Apple with its phablet, Apple will be fighting back during September and October with the weaker and iterative iPhone 7S and 7S Plus, rather than the cutting edge tenth-anniversary iPhone 8.

Be it a lack of volume for cutting edge technology, a desire to reduce the demand on the handset, or a delay in key hardware components, the iPhone 8 is not going to be the competition for the Note 8 during the critical 4-6 week initial sales window. Instead Apple’s second-tier handsets, the iPhone 7S and 7S Plus, will be the competition.

While the iPhone 7S and 7S Plus handsets are expected to be competent updates to the current ‘7’ handsets running iOS, they will struggle against the Note 8. Many of Apple’s innovations such as wireless charging, OLED screens, and curved glass construction not expected to appear in the 7S family of handsets but they will be standard on the Note 8.

Much of the coverage of Apple’s event will no doubt be focused on the ‘new’ iPhone 8, demoting the 7S and the 7S Plus as ‘mid-cycle refreshes’ in much the same was as the 6S and 6S Plus handsets received less fanfare than the iPhone 6 when it launched a year ago. To keep its image as a cutting-edge manufacturer, Apple will have to demote the 7S family to big up the iPhone 8, which makes the retail match up even sweeter for Samsung.

But if Apple sells the 7S and 7S Plus too well, then it runs the risk of weakening the iPhone 8. Although that may be intentional it is still a risky strategy for Tim Cook and his team to undertake. Samsung’s DJ Koh has no such issues - there’s clear water between the Note 8 and the Samsung Galaxy S8 and S8 Plus smartphones that were launched six months ago so all the focus can be on the latest device.

Samsung has looked at the potential dates and choices, and made the decision to fight Apple with as much of an advantage as it can muster. That Apple is not ready to send in its star performer is not Samsung’s fault, but it’s something the South Korean company should exploit.

Now read more about the launch dates of the Samsung Galaxy Note 8…

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