Support grows for Galaxy Note 7 name; will Samsung really skip the Note 6?

The importance of branding to smartphone sales can't be understated, and the difference between a forgettable phone and one that goes on to be a best-seller really can be as simple as giving it an identity that really resonates with the smartphone-buying public. Samsung knows this truth as well as anyone (and how many times have you heard people talk about “Galaxy” phones when they're referring to Android handsets in general?), and new rumors have suggested that the company is taking that lesson to heart, calling its next phablet the Galaxy Note 7 in an effort to create synergy with this year's Galaxy S7. While Samsung has yet confirm that it will skip the Galaxy Note 6, more and more voices are talking about the possibility of this year's Note being the Note 7 – most recently on Chinese social media.

We know: the image you see here doesn't look at all official, and we're leaning hard in the direction of it being a fan mock-up.

But just because it may not be a Samsung-sourced graphic doesn't mean it's not based on some possible insider intel, and this one's sure grabbing the attention of some prominent smartphone-rumor aficionados in the West.

The theory goes that Samsung is tired of having the Galaxy Note numbering lag one year behind its Galaxy S flagship, especially as that may be creating impressions that the Galaxy Note is based on older technology than the S – when in reality, the situation tends to be quite the opposite.

Last year Samsung pushed up its Galaxy Note launch from its typical IFA announcement to a mid-August debut; now rumors suggest that this year's launch event could fall even earlier still, in the opening days of the month.

If that's indeed true, we suspect it may not be long now before some much more convincing leaks start helping us establish once and for all exactly what branding the 2016 Galaxy Note will take.


source: i冰宇宙 (Weibo) via Steve Hemmerstoffer (Twitter)