Did Samsung Kill Off a Product Name to Sound More Like Apple?
Is Samsung so scared that they’d kill off a product’s name? Probably not and here’s why.
The Samsung Galaxy Note ... 7
According to ET News, last year’s Samsung Galaxy Note 5 is being replaced later this year by the “Samsung Galaxy Note 7.”
“This is the first time Samsung Electronics is jumping over a number since it started releasing Galaxy Smartphones. Starting from 2010 until now, it has numbered Galaxy S series from 1 through 7 without leaving any numbers out. Starting from 2011 until last year, it had numbered Galaxy Note series from 1 through 5 without leaving any numbers out.”
- ET NewsWhat happened to the “Samsung Galaxy Note 6,” you ask?
Samsung fans will likely contend that by ditching the Samsung Galaxy Note 6 name, all of the company’s mobile devices line up. After all, the Samsung Galaxy S7 and Samsung Galaxy S7 edge were released earlier this year.
The skeptics among us will probably believe this has more to do with the “iPhone 7,” which Apple is expected to launch in 2016.
Who’s right? Probably Samsung.
The Samsung Galaxy S7 line has been more popular than the devices in the previous generation, so it makes sense to preemptively strike the Samsung Galaxy Note 6 name. Besides, even with this change, Samsung is much more consistent with its naming conventions than its competitor in Cupertino, California.
As the quote above shows, Samsung has been consistent with how it names the Galaxy S line. The Samsung Galaxy S4, for example, was the fourth device in the series, just like the Samsung Galaxy S5 was the fifth.
Over at Apple, the so-called iPhone 7 isn’t the seventh such device. There was never an “iPhone 2,” as the second-generation device was called the iPhone 3G, as in the third generation of mobile telecommunications technology. The handset that followed, the iPhone 3GS was the third iPhone. For the iPhone 4 in 2010, Apple got back on track, but that didn’t last. Starting with the iPhone 4s (the fifth iPhone), Apple decided to use an “s” in names for iPhones released in odd years. This strange oddity is why we got the iPhone 5s and iPhone 6s, and not (at the times each handset was released) the iPhone 6 and iPhone 7, respectively.
Apple’s already bizarre naming convention was upended even further in 2013 with the introduction of the iPhone 5c (the eighth handset). It got even weirder earlier this year when Apple launched the iPhone SE.
For those keeping score, Apple’s next two handsets (presumably the iPhone 7 and “iPhone 7 Plus”) will be No. 14 and No. 15, respectively. If you approximate how Samsung names handsets and don’t count “c,” “SE,” and “s” versions as different handsets, the iPhone 7 would be Apple’s 10th generation handset.
The bottom line
Some Apple fans will certainly bash Samsung for ditching the Samsung Galaxy Note 6 moniker because of the incorrect assumption that this has to do with the iPhone 7. This isn’t the case. Even with the name, Samsung is much better at counting than Apple ever will be.
The next Samsung Galaxy Note is expected to launch in August. We can expect the iPhone 7 to arrive a month later.
