The Trade Show Is Dead: Samsung Not Launching Galaxy S II Successor At MWC

The Samsung Galaxy S II successor will not be in attendance at Mobile World Congress. The company issued a statement this morning indicating that the phone will get its own event, one that’s closer to its launch date. But don’t worry that much for MWC. Samsung will still debut “exciting new mobile products.” But just not the exciting new mobile product. Samsung is smartly holding its best cards until the time is right.

Samsung,

Samsung is looking forward to introducing and demonstrating exciting new mobile products at Mobile World Congress 2012.

The successor to the Galaxy S II smartphone will be unveiled at a separate Samsung-hosted event in the first half of the year, closer to commercial availability of the product.

Samsung stays committed to providing the best possible mobile experiences for customers around the world.

Samsung is the latest big consumer electronic company to diminish the role of trade shows. Previously, companies were seemingly held hostage to the trade show circuit. These large events were the only way to get the attention of the press. But slowly major companies started pulling back from trade shows.

Apple dropped Macworld after the 2008 show. Microsoft is pulling back on CES. Now Samsung isn’t launching its iPhone 5 competitor at a trade show but instead its own event. These major players no longer need trade shows to gain an audience with the press.

The Samsung Galaxy S II was, and still is, a major hit for Samsung. However, it could have had a more strategic launch. Samsung announced the phone in early February at MWC. The phone then launched in European and Asian markets in early June. It didn’t hit the States until September.

Samsung is no doubt looking to eliminate the gap between announcement and launch. Hot products like the Galaxy S II can hold the Internet’s attention only so long. Despite the message of Sammy’s current ad campaign, the company wants to curate a launch that will get consumers excited enough to camp outside of stores for the phone — and launching at a trade show just doesn’t work this time.