Samsung Galaxy S8 Release Date Will Be April 21 Not The 28th, Says Analyst

It was reported last week that the Samsung Galaxy S8’s release date has been pushed back to April 28. However, an analyst believes that that will not be the case, and that the upcoming flagship will actually be released on April 21.

Last week, VentureBeat's Evan Blass reported that the Galaxy S8’s release was pushed to April 28 and he cited “a person briefed on the company’s revised target.” No reason was given for the delay, but it may simply be Samsung’s more cautious approach at launching a new flagship after the Note 7 debacle.

Blass may have a solid track record when it comes to reporting leaks and release dates for upcoming products, but it looks like this time he might have gotten it wrong. The Samsung Galaxy S8 will go on sale on April 21, according to KGI Securities analyst Ming-Chi Kuo, as per 9To5Google.

Kuo is mostly known for being one of the most reliable Apple analysts in the world. In his latest investor note, he predicts that Samsung will ship 40 to 45 million units of the Galaxy S8 during 2017. This is notably lower than the 52 million Galaxy S7 units from last tear.

Kuo believes that Samsung was able to ship 52 million units of the Galaxy S7 simply because it acted as Samsung’s only flagship of the year given that the Note 7 was discontinued. The lower number of Galaxy S8 shipments doesn’t necessarily reflect disinterest from consumers.

The KGI Securities analyst also shared information about the Galaxy S8 that corroborates previous reports. Like others, Kuo believes that the Galaxy S8 will come in two sizes: a 5.8-inch model with a 3,000 mAh battery and a 6.2-inch model with a 3,500 mAh battery. Both models will have OLED displays with a screen resolution of 2,960 x 2,400.

In the U.S., Japan and China, the Galaxy S8 will be powered by the Qualcommm Snapdragon 835 processor. Units sold in Europe and Asia will be powered by Samsung’s Exynos 8895. As for RAM, Kuo believes that most markets will get 4GB of RAM, while China and South Korea will have 6GB of RAM. He says that this is because consumers in China and Korea are “sensitive to RAM specs.”

Samsung will officially reveal the Galaxy S8 during its special Unpacked event scheduled on March 29 at the Lincoln Center in New York City.