Three of Samsung’s non-Note phones could offer S Pen integration in 2021

The odds are not looking so great for the launch of Galaxy Note 20’s successor. Earlier, well-connected industry insider Ice Universe had said that the South Korean giant doesn’t seem to be working on the Galaxy Note 21. And now leaker Max Weinbach has revealed the possible 2021 lineup, and it does not include the Note series.

Per Weinbach, Samsung will launch three Galaxy S series flagships next year, which is hardly surprising. He also says that we can look forward to the Galaxy S21 FE, which, again, was expected as Samsung has committed to launching Fan Editions of its flagship phones every year.

The chaebol will also probably announce the Galaxy Z Fold 3 and Z Flip 3 next year, as well as a comparatively affordable foldable phone which would be known as the Galaxy Z Fold FE.

Weinbach also claims that three of these phones will support the S Pen stylus. The Galaxy S21 Ultra and the Galaxy Z Fold 3 are already rumored to offer S Pen integration, and the Galaxy S21 Plus could be the third candidate. 

Neither Ice nor Weinbach has explicitly said that the Note line has been axed. 

Foldable phones are still very much niche devices, and Samsung wasn’t even able to sell 1 million of them in 2019. This year, it’s aiming to sell 6 million foldable handsets, which sounds unrealistic given that analysts expect shipments to hover somewhere between 3 million and 5 million units. 

That’s an insignificant contribution when compared to projected total shipments of 1.2 billion units.

In 2021, sales of foldable phones are expected to reach 10 million units. In comparison, 10 million units of Note series phones are sold by the end of a year after their release in the third quarter. 

Thus, it’s best not to read too much into these rumors.