Predicting Samsung would release the Galaxy Note 20 and Galaxy Fold 2 in the second half of 2020 would have hardly been an act of clarvoyance at any point in recent memory. Regardless, that launch window is official as of just a few hours ago. The confirmation arrived as part of Samsung's mixed Q1 financials, or more specifically, the company's subsequent earnings call with analysts and investors.
While the conglomerate acknowledged the massive global uncertainties stemming from the ongoing coronavirus crisis, it has zero intentions of significantly altering its remaining annual smartphone roadmap in response to the situation.
Joint Galaxy Note 20 and Galaxy Fold 2 launch still on the cards
Furthermore, Samsung said both the new Galaxy Note and its next foldable will turn up the level of competition in the ultra-premium market segment by a sizeable degree. Even more important is how the company's not framing that forecast as a promise of some remarkable achievement, arguing that's what its top-of-the-line handsets are doing every year anyway. The prediction is instead meant to illustrate how even perhaps the worst pandemic-related crisis in Samsung's history isn't enough to massively impact its overall stability, at least not in the immediate term.
Today's development also lends more credence to recent reports about the Galaxy Note 20 and Galaxy Fold 2 both being on course for an August launch. And while Samsung would likely prefer to unveil the devices separately in order to maximize their media momentum, that's not guaranteed to happen. At this rate, the company may have to settle with a single Unpacked event, online-only or not.