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The Samsung Galaxy S8 is expected to be on sale in stores by April, but there have been speculation as to the exact date of the release. FOX News said that although the South Korean electronics giant has confirmed the debut of its next flagship smartphone in a special event on March 29, there have been conflicting reports about the actual availability of the phone in stores.
The two dates that are being debated on in the rumor mill are April 21 and April 28. A BGR source, however, confirmed that at least for one market, pre-orders of Samsung Galaxy S8 will be shipped starting April 28th.
“A senior supply chain source with knowledge of one Canadian cell carrier’s plans has confirmed that pre-orders will be shipped out April 28th in Canada. That virtually confirms that the phone will launch in the US by the 28th at the latest, as it’s highly unlikely to launch in Canada before the US. It also suggests more strongly that the Galaxy S8 will be launched on April 28th in the US as well, as historically, flagship smartphones have gone on sale on the same day in the US and Canada. Devices are cross-compatible between the two countries, and with the small size of Canada’s population vs the US, it’s easy to satisfy demand for both countries at the same time,” Chris Mills for the tech site wrote.
Meanwhile, analyst Ming-Chi Kuo of KGI Securities released a new investor note confirming the worst fears over Galaxy S8’s later-than-usual release: sales will not be as high as the ones picked up by its predecessor, the Galaxy S7.
9to5Google said Kuo, who has been a reliable analyst for Apple products (and had predicted an April 21 release date for Galaxy S8), predicts 40 million to 45 million shipments for 2017, which is slightly lower than Galaxy S7’s 52 million Galaxy S7 last year. Kuo posits that the lower sales was probably due to Galaxy S7 the only release Samsung did last year, and the company’s Galaxy Note 7 battery fiasco.
