Galaxy Note 4 Release Date Nears as Samsung Ups Chip Orders, Cuts Galaxy Note 3 Price
The Galaxy Note 4 release date this 2014 appears more imminent than ever as Samsung is reportedly ramping up its preparation for the rumoured Unpacked2 event in September with plans to significantly increase its chip orders in the third quarter of the year.
At the same time, the Galaxy maker has chopped off the sticker price for the Galaxy Note 3 by up to $90, further supporting the notion that the Note 4 arrival is fast approaching.
Note 4 mass production
Recent reports, including that of IBTimes, have indicated that Samsung could debut its second flagship for 2014 slightly earlier than thought of, precisely to get ahead of its perceived key rival - Apple's iPhone 6 that is wildly speculated to come in a 5.5-inch variant.
And if a new DigiTimes report is to be believed, preparation for the Note 4 grand debut is now underway.
According to the Taiwanese business publication, Samsung is stepping up its IC purchases in the second half of the year following a slow down during the June quarter.
"Samsung aims to reignite its handset shipments to maintain its market share in the third quarter, and therefore is expected to double its chip orders in the quarter," DigiTimes reported, citing its anonymous industry insiders as sources.
The report noted too that Taiwanese chip suppliers are reeling from the retreat in orders from Samsung during the three-month stretch from April through June of 2014. Now the same players are seen to boost their profits by the end of September as the South Korean tech giant is purportedly gearing up for mass production activities in the immediate weeks ahead.
All the movements seem to point to the Galaxy Note 4 unboxing though DigiTimes has hinted too that Galaxy models in the mid-range and entry-level departments will also see considerable shipment spikes soon.
Price cuts
Meanwhile, the Note 3 tag price just became a bit more pocket-friendly as SamMobile reported that the phablet now sells at around $630 in India, down from its previous selling price of $720. The model involved is believed unlocked and is with the basic specifications - a 16GB internal memory among them.
The promo deal also includes the Galaxy Note 3 Neo and according to SamMobile, the latest Samsung move is presumably designed to accelerate the clearance of current phablet inventory by Samsung.
This has been the case in the past few years, in which analysts maintain that gadget vendors, including the majors like Apple, Samsung and Google, routinely offer permanent discounts on their hero handsets to lure as many buys as possible prior to the arrival of fresh models.
The object is to make room for the incoming shipments by pushing out old stocks.
So with attractive price cuts and the seeming increase on supply chain and manufacturing activities for Samsung, it is not too remote that the next big thing from the company is coming very soon.
The Samsung Galaxy Note 4 release date is likely in the middle part of the September 2014 or a few days after the phablet flagship is previewed on Sept 3 via the IFA trade show in Berlin.