The Samsung Galaxy S7 is a whopping success already, and one essential ingredient in its recipe for success was the early release.
Analysts now believe that Samsung could pull a similar scheme for its next highly-anticipated device, the Galaxy Note 6.
The new Galaxy S7 flagship smartphone hit the market nearly one month earlier than its predecessor, and came with a more affordable price tag compared with the Galaxy S6.
More specifically, the Galaxy S7 hit the market on March 11, while the Galaxy S6 launched in April last year. As for pricing, on average, the Galaxy S7 is estimated to be roughly eight percent cheaper than its predecessor.
These two factors were likely the main contributors to the smartphone's success, as early estimates indicate that Samsung likely shipped 10 million Galaxy S7 units so far. That's nearly triple the sales figures the Galaxy S6 scored last year, during the same amount of time since launch.
Launching the Galaxy S7 sooner gave Samsung a perfect window to boost the hype and push its flagship full-force, at a time where consumers were waiting for a powerful smartphone worthy of an upgrade.
"With the high-end smartphone market largely stagnated, the issue is no longer about what 'Wow' features the new phone has," says Claire Kim, a Daishin Securities Co. analyst. "Rather, it's about who can bring out the phone quicker."
Indeed, it seems that Samsung perfectly timed the Galaxy S7 release. Chinese rivals were yet to release their more affordable offers, while Apple is still far off from its iPhone 7 release slated for the fall.
There are, of course, a number of other contributing factors leading up to the Galaxy S7's success, including the top-notch specs and features the new flagships have to offer. Timing, however, is always crucial.
With shares and operating profits growing due to the successful Galaxy S7 line, Samsung could apply a similar strategy for its Galaxy Note 6 later this year.
"The success of the S7 likely will encourage Samsung to use the same playbook with its newest large-screen Note devices later this year," says Neil Mawston, Strategy Analytics executive director of research.
Mawston adds that the Samsung Galaxy S7 will likely be the world's best-selling Android smartphone this year, and the Galaxy Note 6 should arrive a month or two before Apple releases its iPhone 7 "to try and grab that window of opportunity."
Considering that Apple typically launches its new iPhone iterations in September, this means that the Galaxy Note 6 could arrive in July or August. With such a significant head-start, the next Galaxy phablet flagship could trump the iPhone 7 Plus in terms of sales.
