Galaxy Note 21 cancellation rumors rise again

By Ewdison Then/

There are always a number of rumors about Samsung products that refused to die. Most of those, like under-display cameras, revolve around features to be added or products to be launched. One undying rumor, however, is all about the death of one rather popular product. For years, Samsung has been believed to be retiring the Galaxy Note or at least the S Pen. We know that the latter is far from coming true yet but the launch of the Galaxy S21 Ultra has provided fodder once more to talk about the Galaxy Note 21's absence this year.

Retiring the Galaxy Note series isn't just a simple matter of cutting out a product line. There are, of course, avid fans and buyers that are pulled by its defining feature, the stylus. With the Galaxy S21 Ultra, however, Samsung has started toying around with the idea that you don't need a Galaxy Note just to have an S Pen and, unsurprisingly, we're now hearing talk again that that will indeed be the case starting this year.

@Ice universe, for example, simply posted a tweet that was ominous but also unsubtle, suggesting that the Galaxy Note line has finally reached The End. Of course, saying that there will be no Galaxy Note 21 this year would also mean that Samsung will need something to fill in the gap and another leak points how the company plans to cope.

DisplaySearch's Ross Young suggests that we might actually see a Galaxy Note 20 FE or Fan Edition this year, just as we saw a Galaxy S20 FE towards the end of 2020. There's also the factor that the Galaxy Note 21's absence will push the Galaxy S21 series, especially the Galaxy S21 Ultra into the market far longer than its predecessors ever did. It's a bit of self-fulfilling prophecy, then, that the Galaxy S21 is expected to sell a lot more than the Galaxy S20.

And then there is, of course, the possibility that the Galaxy Z Fold 3 will indeed have support for the S Pen as well. The foldable phone has been expected to eventually replace the Galaxy Note's slot in the latter half of the year. While that may finally happen this year, it might also be too early to bank on the new technology as a suitable replacement for a hardier, more durable, and more affordable Galaxy Note just yet.

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