With stories of Samsung struggling against Apple and the iPhone in America, as well as at home in Korea, a new report claims that Samsung is looking to potentially rebrand away from the long-running “Galaxy” naming convention.
The report from the Korean publication E-Today (via tipster Jukanlosreve on X) claims that Samsung is exploring rebranding the company’s flagship smartphones with a non-Galaxy name. This would be similar to how Hyundai sells its premium cars under the Genesis branding or how Lexus is Toyota’s luxury car brand.
It is both a surprising move and perhaps necessary. Samsung has five lines of smartphones — the Z, S, A, M and F-series — under the Galaxy umbrella with the Z and S reserved for the flagship devices. And this isn’t mentioning all of the products under the Galaxy label including the Tab S10 tablets, Buds 3 Pro earbuds, Watch 7 smartwatches and the brand new Galaxy Ring.
It appears this may have been a long percolating initiative within Samsung. Lee Young-hee, Samsung’s head of global marketing, was quote at CES 2024, “Galaxy has so many lineups that I know people are expecting a new name when there is an innovative turning point.”
As the report points out, with a mix of high-end, mid-range and budget devices all under the same umbrella, it can prevent the flagship devices from standing out as apparently younger audiences consider Galaxy subpar, compared to iPhones, when the first Galaxy devices they encounter are from some of the lower tier lines.
Samsung has been utilizing the iconic “Galaxy” branding since at least 2009 when the company launched the Samsung Galaxy which ran one of the first versions of Android.
While Apple and Samsung are the two most popular brands for smartphones in the US, there isn’t really competition. According to Statcounter, Apple has 57.3% of the market share in the United States with Samsung claiming 23.2% for a combined 80% of the phone market, as of September 2024.
According to E-Today, even in Samsung’s home country of Korea, among young people (18 to 29-years old), 64% said they used an iPhone with that number leaping to 75% for women in their 20s.
Samsung is no stranger to being accused of copying Apple when it comes to new features on mainline S-series phones. With flagging Z Fold 6 and Z Flip 6 sales, foldable devices that Apple doesn’t even offer, Samsung executives even apologized earlier this month for not being more innovative (via Android Police).
“Rather than short-term solutions, we will secure fundamental competitiveness. Furthermore, I believe that only new technologies that do not exist in the world and perfect quality competitiveness are the only ways for Samsung Electronics to make a comeback,” said Samsung’s VP of Device Solutions, Jeon Young-Hyun.
It’s unclear from the E-Today report how far along a potential rebranding is on Samsung’s roadmap. An industry insider commented to the Korean publication, “Samsung is also aware that a new brand name is needed, so there is a high possibility that a new brand will be launched.”
It may be too late for the next January’s Galaxy S25 Ultra to get the new branding, but a future S-series or, perhaps, Z-series device will likely see it.