The Samsung Galaxy S3 (or S III) is one of the most highly anticipated smartphones of the year and we are now only days away from the Thursday Galaxy Unpacked event in London where it will be unveiled. Three out of the four major U.S. carriers offered the Galaxy S2 last year but there’s a riddle over which US carriers will offer the Galaxy S3 this time around.
Last year there was a lot of consternation from Verizon customers when the carrier chose not to offer the Galaxy S2 (S II) and concentrated instead on the Galaxy Nexus. The Galaxy S2 was then released on the other 3 major carriers, AT&T, Sprint (as the Galaxy S II Epic 4G Touch) and T-Mobile and many Verizon customers felt they missed out. In our recent look at the odds of Verizon carrying the S3 we had plenty of comments from readers, many of whom said that they may well go to another carrier if Verizon doesn’t carry the S2 successor. The importance of Verizon offering the Galaxy S3 then, cannot be underestimated.
It would be easy to assume that the same US carriers that offered the Galaxy S2 last year will have the Galaxy S3 this year but some of the latest leaks suggest this may not be the case. These rumors are not yet confirmed but if accurate then Verizon customers could have good reason to be pleased. A leaked Verizon roadmap that recently emerged clearly showed the Galaxy S3 although no release date was given. It looks then as though Verizon has rethought its Galaxy S strategy and bowed to the might of consumer pressure, although of course you’d imagine that carrying the S3 would be highly profitable for the company as well.
However, for T-Mobile customers the outlook may not be so promising. At the weekend we told of a leaked T-Mobile roadmap showing new devices and also details of ICS updates for the summer. Although an Android 4.0 ICS update looks to be coming for Galaxy S2 owners on May 14, there was no sign of the Galaxy S3 listed alongside other upcoming devices. It has to be said that this is rather an ominous sign but of course none of this is official yet so if you’re a T-Mobile customer don’t fret just yet.
The other thing to consider is that the Galaxy S3 may be coming to T-Mobile but just not in the summer timeframe covered by the roadmap. This wouldn’t appear to be very likely though as with the official Galaxy S3 announcement coming this week we would imagine a release will come shortly afterwards. We already know that Samsung intends to roll out the Galaxy S3 simultaneously across all regions this time around, rather than the scenario that occurred last year when US customers didn’t see a release for several months after it was available in other countries.
We haven’t yet seen any leaks or information on the Galaxy S3 for AT&T or Sprint but hopefully we’ll hear more about all the carriers shortly. One more snippet though concerns three new names that were recently registered by Samsung, the Galaxy Metrix, Galaxy Legend and Galaxy Velvet. Nobody appears to know any devices connected to these names but of course we have to entertain the possibility that they could be names of US Galaxy S3 carrier variants. That is just pure speculation though so we’ll wait to hear more on those names.
It’s intriguing stuff and we’d like to hear your thoughts on the Galaxy S3 and US carriers. Are you a Verizon customer hoping the leaked roadmap is correct and means the Galaxy S3 is heading your way? Maybe you’re a T-Mobile subscriber and would be disappointed if the carrier doesn’t offer the Galaxy S3? If you’ve already decided you want the Galaxy S3 and your carrier fails to offer it, would that be enough to make you jump ship? Let us have your thoughts by sending us your comments.