Samsung Not Unveiling Galaxy S9 At CES 2018 Despite Reports

Sorry Samsung fans, the South Korea tech giant isn’t planning on unveiling its Galaxy S9 flagship smartphone at the Consumer Electronics Show this coming January. This is in spite of numerous reports claiming the company is gearing up for the announcement of the Galaxy S8 successor at the start of next year.

This Wednesday, Samsung Electronics dismissed speculations that it is preparing to unveil its next flagship phone, the Galaxy S9, at CES 2018. When asked if it is indeed going to announce the device at the big event, Apple’s biggest rival said, “It is unlikely,” according to Korea Herald. This means the highly anticipated handset won’t be outed in January to the disappointment of excited fans.

Because Samsung is not unveiling the Galaxy S9 at CES 2018, industry watchers are now saying that it is very likely for the flagship handset to be unveiled at the Mobile World Congress in February. It’s either that or Samsung could be planning a separate launch event for the handset in March. The latter is, of course, quite possible because Samsung also took the wraps off of the Galaxy S8 at its own launch events in London and New York this March. Meanwhile, the company unveiled the Galaxy S5, S6 and S7 at MWC.

Whatever it is that Samsung is planning for the Galaxy S9, it’s clear that the company wants to introduce the device to consumers early next year, so it could right away compete with Apple’s iPhone X. The 10th anniversary model wasn’t released until early November, so the demand for it isn’t expected to dwindle anytime soon. In fact, Apple is anticipating strong demand for the handset within the first half of 2018.

As for the specifications and features of the Galaxy S9, industry sources are saying that Samsung is going to continue outfitting its flagship phones with Infinity Displays. Hence, it is very inevitable for the Galaxy S9 to sport the same look as the Galaxy S8 and the Galaxy Note 8 — both of which have almost bezel-less designs. Rumor has it that the Galaxy S9’s screen-to-body ratio would be greater than that of the S8. While the S8 features 84 percent screen-to-body ratio, the Galaxy S9 is believed to be sporting a 90 percent screen-to-body ratio.

There’s also a rumor going around claiming that Samsung could also be following in Apple’s footsteps and adopting its own version of 3D sensing technology that the iPhone X is currently most known for. However, some sources also believe that Samsung could instead be introducing a display-embedded fingerprint scanner — something that was previously rumored for the Galaxy S8. A source familiar with the matter unfortunately said that an in-display fingerprint reader will not materialize since there are still technical challenges left unaddressed by Samsung.