Samsung kills Galaxy Note to concentrate on foldable smartphones - report

The functionality and look is likely to be absorbed into the S22 Ultra.
The functionality and look is likely to be absorbed into the S22 Ultra. Photo credit: Getty Images

The Samsung Galaxy Note, one of the original phablets - a combined mobile phone and tablet - is being discontinued by the electronics giant.

A report from South Korea's ET News says the company will stop production of the series at the end of 2021 and that there would be no 2022 edition.

Functionality of the S Pen, which allowed users to handwrite notes on the device, was included with the Galaxy S21 Ultra launched earlier this year, while a special edition S Pen offers the same for the Galaxy Z Fold 3.

According to ET News, the new S22 Ultra - expected to be introduced early next year - will feature more of the core functions of the Note. Crucially these will include convenient internal pen storage for the first time, making the device the natural successor to an essentially obsolete Note.

There were around 3.2 million units of the Galaxy Note 20 shipped this year, a significant reduction from the 12.7 million Note devices in 2019 and 9.7 million in 2020.

The main reason behind the decision to drop the series is increased production amounts of its foldable smartphones, the Fold 3 and the Flip 3, according to the report.

The Note was first released in October 2011, although it's perhaps most remembered for the infamous Note 7 iteration in 2016. In August of that year, Samsung announced it was delaying shipments due to concerns about product quality amid reports of batteries exploding while charging.

It later suspended sales in order to allow customers to exchange the faulty devices, but then permanently ended production after some replacement devices also caught fire.

Because of the threat of fire the Note 7 was banned from being taken on board flights around the world by the likes of Qantas, Virgin and Singapore Airlines.

When the most recent edition was announced in 2020 Samsung was ridiculed for describing its 'mystic bronze' colour as "gender fluid".