The next generation flagship smartphone from Samsung, the Samsung Galaxy S IV, is scheduled for launch as soon as April according to Reuters sources. Among the usual incremental upgrades in processing power, screen pixel density and camera sensor megapixels an unusual breakthrough development may feature – an “unbreakable screen”.
The unbreakable screen
UBS analyst Nicolas Gaudois told Reuters that “Looking to the first half of 2013, we see evidence of Samsung likely accelerating the release of the Galaxy S IV - compared with May (this year) for the Galaxy S III”, he continued and talked about the screen “We believe preparations for volume manufacturing of unbreakable plastic substrate displays continue”. Further to the unbreakable qualities another analyst, Mark Newman, at Stanford Bernstein Hong Kong said “Eventually, they'll have unbreakable and flexible displays. Either the Galaxy S IV or S V will have unbreakable and even possibly flexible and foldable displays by 2014. That's going to be a game-changer”.
My favourite S IV mock-up from the www
Why is an unbreakable screen so important? Will this unbreakable quality make a big difference to sales and competiveness against the iPhone, for example? To answer the first question I looked at some figures for iPhone repair. Time magazine recently published an article saying an amazing $6 billion has been spent on iPhone repairs since 2007. The most common issue was something was broken due to the iPhone being dropped; very often that was the screen. The second most common problem was again due to being dropped but this time into liquid...
The other rumoured upgrades
The Samsung Galaxy S IV is rumoured to have the following upgraded components in addition to the aforementioned unbreakable screen; a bigger 1080p display with an improved pixel density of about 440 ppi, a 13-megapixel camera and a quad core processor, perhaps bumped a little bit past that of the Galaxy Note II.
Launch date jiggery pokery
The April launch date speculation isn’t as soon as we had heard predicted in September from a source speaking to The Korea Times. That story predicted the new flagship Galaxy S IV would be introduced at the Mobile World Congress, in February 2013. That or April will give Samsung a bit of time to sell a few million before the iPhone 6 hits us in June 2013... But what about the iPhone 5S that’s being talked about all over the place now, just because someone has pictured an iPhone 5 case with the screw holes in slightly different positions? Is that Apple’s planned fly in Samsung’s ointment? As usual with the rumour stories, time will tell.
