David Imel / Android Authority
TL; DR
- According to a Korean outlet, the Samsung Galaxy S21 FE may only be available in Europe and the US.
- The abbreviated release schedule was reportedly attributed to the ongoing chip shortage.
The Samsung Galaxy S21 FE is expected to hit the market later this year, but we’ve already seen a (now deleted) report in the past few weeks claiming that production has ceased due to the ongoing chip shortage. Samsung responded at the time by stating that “nothing was found” regarding the apparent exposure.
Well Koreas FNN news Outlet (h / t: r / Android) reported that Samsung is considering a launch in the US and Europe just because of chip shortages.
“I heard that the S21 FE, which was supposed to be out in August, won’t be out in the US and Europe until October,” an unnamed official told the publication, according to machine translation. “This product will not be released in Korea or Japan.”
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The official also alleged that S21 FE production was considered “stopped” at one point due to the chip shortage, but Samsung decided to release quantities of the device in the US and Europe. Another source from the industry is also involved FNN news suggested the supply could be stifled for these markets as well.
“We’re talking about a release in October, but the supply and demand for chips are so serious that the industry cannot guarantee this schedule,” the source was quoted as saying. “There is a possibility that the production volume exported to the USA and Europe will also decrease significantly than planned (sic).”
Samsung allegedly told the outlet that this is “just one of several measures currently under consideration” and that nothing has been confirmed at the moment.
Anyway, it seems like more evidence is building that Samsung is facing some kind of challenge in producing the Galaxy S21 FE. We asked the company for a comment on this story and whether other devices are feeling the effects of the ongoing chip shortage. We will update the article when the manufacturer contacts us.