Samsung Galaxy S24 just tipped for early launch to fight iPhone 15

The launch of the iPhone 15 may have caused quite a stir in the smartphone business. So far the phone seems to have been selling pretty well, despite the economic downturn that’s affected the rest of the smartphone industry, and it’s claimed that this could be putting Samsung on the offensive. Which could see the Galaxy S24 series arrive even earlier than we expected.

According to leaker @Tech_Reve over on Twitter, the Galaxy S24’s launch may be brought forward by “about a month” compared to the Galaxy S23. The S23 series was announced on February 1, ahead of a February 17 release date. If what @Tech_Reve says has any truth to it, it means Samsung could kick off the new year with a brand new series of smartphones.

It seems unlikely that Samsung would launch a phone on January 1, but there is a gap between the new year and the start of CES 2024 — which kicks off on January 9. While it seems unlikely Samsung would want to share the spotlight with the show, there aren’t likely to be any other major announcements in that first week of the year. 

But while Samsung could swing and take some glory, all the attention is still likely to die off pretty quickly once CES begins. Bringing the launch event further back in the calendar could also see the phone overshadowed by the holidays, and it doesn’t seem likely Samsung would be able to hustle enough to get the Galaxy S24 on store shelves in time for the holiday shopping rush.

@Tech_Reve claims that production on the Galaxy S24 will begin “mid-next month”, ready for that potential early launch. So it’s unlikely that the phone would be ready in time for the end of the year. You also have to wonder what Samsung would gain from bringing the launch of its phone forward as a response to the success of the iPhone 15.

For starters a month’s head start over the Galaxy S23 would still see the S24 release around three months after the iPhone 15. Not to mention the fact that Apple’s latest phones have already started selling in huge numbers, and will likely do so during the Black Friday and pre-Holiday sales period. 

Granted Samsung’s phone launches do seem to change quite a bit. Several years ago we used to see Galaxy S launches happen in March, only for Samsung to pull things back to mid-to-late January. We’ve seen a few slip to February, including the Galaxy S23 and Galaxy S22, but otherwise Samsung has fully embraced launching pretty early on in the year.

It could be that this move to launch even earlier is just a continuation of that — rather than a bizarre, panic-stricken attempt to try and catch up with the iPhone. Considering Samsung would ever admit that it’s trying to catch up with Apple, we’re not likely to find out for sure. So we’re just going to have to wait and see how this all plays out.

In the meantime be sure to check out our Samsung Galaxy S24 and Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra hubs to get the lowdown on all the latest news and rumors about the upcoming flagships.

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