Samsung may head to San Jose to unveil new Galaxy S phones

Samsung Electronics' unveiling event for its flagship Galaxy S23 series in San Francisco, California, in February. (Samsung Electronics)

Samsung Electronics may hold its unpacking event for its flagship Galaxy S24 smartphone lineup in January, advancing the date by two weeks compared to last year’s event, in archrival Apple’s backyard for the first time, according to industry sources on Wednesday.

Samsung is planning to unveil the Galaxy S24 series, consisting of three models -- the standard S24, the S24 Plus and the S24 Ultra -- on Jan. 17. The company is considering San Jose, California, as an option for the annual unpacking event for its new flagship Galaxy devices, the sources said.

“Samsung appears to be set in its strategy of selling its new flagship phones earlier than usual to consolidate more profits to its first-quarter earnings next year as the tech giant experienced a slump this year due to the sluggish chip industry,” an industry source told The Korea Herald on condition of anonymity.

Some industry sources further assumed that Samsung looks to take the lead in the burgeoning artificial intelligence market by bringing the unpacking date forward, renewing head-on competition with Apple over AI-powered smartphones.

The tech giant debuted its own generative AI model, dubbed Samsung Gauss, at its annual AI forum here earlier this month. The new AI chatbot will power the upcoming Galaxy smartphone next year, the company said.

Apple is also reportedly working on an AI tool known as Ajax that could power its digital assistant Siri in the coming version of the company’s flagship iPhone series.

Regarding the upcoming event’s venue, the source said Samsung may want to take center stage in San Jose -- the largest city in Silicon Valley and closer to the headquarters of tech giants Google and Apple.

"Samsung may seek a bigger presence in the global IT hub, working closer with its powerful partner (Google) and keeping a close eye on its rival (Apple) at the same time," the source added.

The tech giant usually holds two highly publicized launch events for its Galaxy devices, one to unveil its flagship Galaxy S phones in February and another for its Z foldable phones in August.

The company held an unpacking event in San Francisco in February for its latest Galaxy S23 smartphone lineup, but the launch event for its latest foldable smartphones -- the Galaxy Z Flip 5 and Galaxy Z Fold 5 -- and Galaxy Watch 6 took place in Seoul for the first time in July.

Samsung beat market expectations for the July-September period, helped by the solid performance of its mobile business division. Despite its chip division’s losses for three consecutive quarters, the early foldable phone launch significantly increased its August sales volume, resulting in the firm logging over 1 trillion won ($770 million) in quarterly operating profit for the first time this year.

Meanwhile, the world's largest smartphone maker by shipments has remained mum over the date and venue of the upcoming launch event for its next-generation Galaxy S smartphone series.

By Jie Ye-eun(yeeun@heraldcorp.com)