Korean media The Bell reports that the Galaxy S8
successor is in full scale development at Samsung under the code name Star. A
larger-screen model, possibly the Galaxy S9 Plus, is codenamed Star 2. That
aside, there are two bits of new information regarding the Galaxy S9 in the
report. First, the phone is said to have similar display technology to its
predecessor. Thus, it likely won't be the foldable phone that's been rumored
for so long, but rather a refinement of the Infinity Display design.
Second, Samsung has reportedly accelerated its
component production and put down a "fairly advanced" development
period before proceeding to full-scale development, which will make it possible
for the Galaxy S9 to start production as early as later this year. This means
Samsung could potentially announce the Galaxy S9 earlier than usual next year.
However, we find this information highly speculative and it might be best to
consume it with the proverbial grain of salt.
In advance, we also know the Galaxy S9 will be
powered by Qualcomm and Samsung's next-generation 7nm processors.
Mass-production of both chipsets is scheduled to start in early 2018 at
Samsung's facilities. Recently, the company spun off its processor fabrication
division into a separate entity as the business has become highly lucrative.
We'll be sharing other Galaxy S9 news as they come.