With earlier reports of Samsung’s slowing profits, there is some talk regarding a major overhaul in the company’s smartphone line up. According to a report by South Korean news website, The Bell, (via NDTV Gadgets), Samsung may be planning to merge its flagship Galaxy Note and Galaxy S Plus models.

The world’s biggest maker of memory chips, smartphones and TVs, in its second quarter, reported lacklustre smartphone earnings owing to intensified competition and overall saturation in the mobile phone market, Reuters had reported.

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According to the report by The Bell, Samsung Electronics’ IT & Mobile communications division has been discussing the possibility of combining the Galaxy S Plus model and the Galaxy Note model. And apparently, talks to this effect have been ongoing for about a year, from the start of last year. However, the company doesn’t seem to have arrived at a conclusion yet.

There is currently little notable difference between the two flagship phones. Earlier the ‘Note models’ were known for their larger display screen along with S Pen functionality, but with launch of S Plus series phones, that quintessential difference has faded. The Galaxy S9 Plus, with its 6.2-inch display, offers a very similar experience as the Note 8’s 6.3-inch screen.

So Samsung’s scheduled offering, the Galaxy Note 9, to be released in New York, USA on August 9th, should be decisive in providing direction to these integration plans. To that effect, the sales performance of the Galaxy Note 9 should be the key watch-out here. Interestingly, the Galaxy Note 9’s S Pen is expected to be equipped with a Bluetooth function.

An electronic industry representative quoted by the South Korean news portal claimed that the interest will be whether to unify the S Plus and Note products, which will depend on the response to the Galaxy Note 9.