Samsung Galaxy Note series is officially dead. (Image of the Galaxy Note 20 Ultra 5G. Image credit: Nandagopal Rajan/Indian Express) Samsung has officially killed the Galaxy Note lineup as confirmed during the Mobile World Congress (MWC) 2022. In an interview, Samsung’s smartphone chief Roh Tae-moon was asked about the Galaxy Note’s fate, going forward. To which, he replied saying, “The Galaxy Note will come out as Ultra,” referring to the high Ultra variant in the Series.
In fact, this year’s Galaxy S22 Ultra comes with support for the S Pen and a dedicated slot for the stylus. The last Galaxy Note launched in 2020, the Note 20 series. But in 2021, the Galaxy S21 came with the S Pen support though the phone itself lacked an in-built compartment. With the Note 21, Samsung never officially said it was cancelling the series. It only said that the Note series was not taking place in 2021 given the ongoing chipset shortage.
When Samsung launched the Galaxy S21 series, TM Roh’s comments on the new device led many to believe that the Note series was making a comeback. “At Unpacked in February 2022, we’ll introduce you to the most noteworthy S series device we’ve ever created. The next generation of Galaxy S is here, bringing together the greatest experiences of our Samsung Galaxy into one ultimate device,” he had said in anticipation o the Galaxy Unpacked event. But it seems, the company is taking the opposite route and replacing the Note series with the Ultra.
Reports had noted earlier how Samsung was trying to focus more on the foldable segment. In fact, the Galaxy Z Fold and Z Flip launch now takes place in August, which was typically when Samsung showcased its Note series. For Samsung too, the foldable segment has seen some success with sales of the Z Fold3 and Z Flip3 exceeding the total foldables that Samsung sold in 2020, according to the company.
The end of the Galaxy Note series brings to close an important chapter in Samsung’s famed flagship lineup. After all the Galaxy Note when it first launched with the stylus in October 2011 was mocked as a phablet. A phone that was too big for its times, except it would go on to prove critics wrong and become a best-seller. While 6-inch plus screens are now common, it was the Note which started this trend.
But the Galaxy Note series also had an unfortunate launch with the unlucky Note 7 series in 2016. A series of Note 7 phones would either catch fire or keep overheating. Samsung blamed battery issues for this, and issued a recall first. However, the problems continued and it became so serious that the Note 7 was banned from flights. Samsung eventually killed the phone altogether.
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