The Galaxy S5 release date is likely to happen earlier than expected, possibly by Feb 2014, in order for the Galaxy S4 replacement to establish a good headstart against its purported rivals - the iPhone 6 and the second HTC One build.

Persistent rumours have been suggesting that Samsung is looking to unleash its next hero phone early next year with Mach or April being eyed as the release month. However, Gotta Be Mobile seems convinced that the Galaxy maker is planning for a much earlier GS5 debut.

The upcoming Samsung flagship, GBM said in a report, will most likely make a grand entry on Feb 2014. The rationale for the rush? The Asian tech giant would want to put up a big lead over the GS5's key challengers.

It has been reported that HTC will refresh the One either in January or early February while the rumoured Apple phablet, iPhone 6, is whispered to become a reality by Q3 2014 with June or July as the target launch period.

So for Samsung to outpace the two handsets, the company needs to rollout the Galaxy S5 way ahead of the HTC One 2 and the iPhone 6. A February 2014 debut seems the best option for the Galaxy device maker - just in time for a spat with the HTC smartphone and more than a quarter ahead of the iPhone 5S successor.

More importantly, by the time Apple is ready to push out its next iPhone model, Samsung would have amassed giant Galaxy S5 sales figures to sustain and even shore up its rising revenues that mostly were being sourced from its mobile division.

Now the question begs: Do the Galaxy S5 has the chops to equal or even exceed the 40 million units that the Galaxy S4 cleared in record time?

From the latest reports, the GS5 has the potentials to lure millions of buyers across the globe with its supposed specs and features that not only dwarf the GS4 but also the iOS and Android competitions.

From the plastic-covered Galaxy S4, the Galaxy S5 is said to emerge out of Samsung's production lines proudly wrapped in a metal frame though some reports also hinted that some GS5 edition will likely keep the Galaxy signature build - that is being housed in polycarbonate.

The GS5 is also rumoured to ditch the AMOLED display panel in favour of IPS LCD, which probably would lead to production savings for Samsung and possibly lower price point for the device once it hits the retail market.

Despite the likelihood of a cheaper price tag, the Galaxy S5 will still boast of a Quad HD screen that stuns in 2560 x 1440 display resolution with pixel density of 560ppi. And all there exciting new capabilities will be fired by an 8-core Exynos 6 CPU in 64-bit mobile computing standard, which also allows the introduction of 4GB of RAM or more.

Release date of the Galaxy S5, should all the latest speculations pan out, points to the middle part of February 2014 or a month before the Galaxy S4 marks its first year in circulation.