The Samsung Galaxy S4 is headed to all four major U.S. carriers in the next few weeks, but when will each one have the new flagship smartphone in stock?
It may be helpful to take a look at Galaxy S3 release dates to figure it out.
Samsung announced the S3 on May 29, 2012. The phone was available through T-Mobile and Sprint less than a month later, on Jun. 21. But Samsung had production shortages, and only the 16GB S3 was available at Sprint, and the company only filled pre-orders. In the meantime, T-Mobile jacked up the price of its S3s.
Due to the supply shortage, AT&T didn't get the S3 until Jul. 6, over a week after its initial release date of Jun. 28. And Verizon didn't have any S3s available until Jul. 12, when supplies finally stabilized.
Samsung is taking no chances with its stock this time around. The company is worried about not having enough Exynos 5 Octa processors, so it's using Qualcomm Snapdragon 600s in 70 percent of the first wave of Galaxy S4s.
The S4 was unveiled in Times Square on Mar. 14 of this year. The wait between launch and release is a bit longer this year, about six weeks.
We have confirmation that T-Mobile will offer the Galaxy S4 on May 1. If last year's pattern holds true, Sprint should have the S4 on or around the same time.
Keep in mind that Samsung hasn't confirmed the May 1 date; that's straight from T-Mobile PR. A Samsung spokesman I talked to would only say it's coming in the second quarter."
Since there shouldn't be a lack of stock, Verizon and AT&T should have the S4 shortly after, not a full two weeks after their competitors, so look for the S4 from them in early May.
The Samsung Galaxy S4 features a 1.6GHz eight-core Exynos 5 Octa processor or a 1.9GHz quad-core Qualcomm Snapdragon 600 processor (depending on country), 2GB of RAM, a 5-inch 1920x1080 Full HD AMOLED display at 441 ppi, a 13-megapixel rear-facing camera with 1080p HD video, a 2-megapixel front facing camera, internal storage between 16 and 64GB, an SD card slot that can accommodate an additional 64GB, a polycarbonate body, Smart Pause and floating touch tech and runs Android 4.2.2 Jelly Bean.
Check back for the latest info on the Galaxy S4 as it becomes available.
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