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New reports suggest that Samsung continues to struggle with the production and the launch timeline of Galaxy S21 FE. The issues may force the South Korean tech giant to ditch Qualcomm chips for the mid-range device, along with a rumored delayed release date.
Over the past few weeks, Samsung has been rumored to be planning to launch the Galaxy S21 FE in August along with its foldable phones. However, the Korean publication Maekyeong reported, citing industry sources, that the release date of the mid-range phone appears to have been delayed to the fourth quarter of 2021.
It means Galaxy S21 FE could be released in October at the earliest, which would be more than a year since its predecessor entered the market. The delay is reportedly caused by the ongoing semiconductor supplies shortage that has posed production issues to several tech companies this year.
The delay of the Galaxy S21 FE release is still a much better scenario compared to previous rumors that Samsung could end up canceling the device’s production. Reports about a potential cancellation started to spread last month, but it was later debunked by Samsung in a statement to Bloomberg: “While we cannot discuss details of the unreleased product, nothing has been determined regarding the alleged production suspension.”
The same report noted that the production limitations Qualcomm is facing are one of the causes of the Galaxy S21 FE’s delay. While a cancellation does not seem likely, Samsung is expected to change its plans for the device that could result in the use of its in-house Exynos chips. Maekyeong did not identify a specific Exynos chip. But considering that the phone was supposed to be powered by Snapdragon 888, the only fitting replacement would be Samsung’s 5nm Exynos 2100.
Samsung is also said to be looking into other options so it can deliver Galaxy S21 FE this year. The company is reportedly considering a limited launch and only offer the device to customers in the United States and Europe. Another possible scenario is to initially offer the mid-range phone in limited stocks. But the possibility of using both Qualcomm and Exynos chips for certain regions is not ruled yet, per the report.
