It's being reported today in Korea that Samsung's new Galaxy S10 went into full production on January 25 in Korea and overseas. The twist is that only their 4G models have gone into production. A source told the Korean publication that "The 5G Galaxy S10 is still in the pipeline and will start being produced later during the first half."

The report went on to repeat some of the new features coming to the Galaxy S10, such as a fingerprint scanner using an ultrasonic sensor under the display and a triple back side camera. It also repeated that their new foldable smartphone will be priced out of range for most consumers.

What the report didn't address adequately is why Samsung may delay their 5G smartphone. More importantly, the question that begs to be asked is why is Samsung confusing their fanbase by selling both 4 and 5G smartphones in the first half of 2019?

What customer in their right mind would want to put down their hard earned money down on a 4G smartphone when a 5G version is set to be released only a few short months later?

If Apple sold the iPhone XR with 4G and then said they'd have a 5G model ready in 3 to 4 months, why would any Apple fan buy and XR restricted to 4G now?

Unless Samsung is planning to sell their 5G smartphone at a much higher premium price, the rumored strategy on paper doesn't make much sense. Why don't they have a single focus selling the Galaxy S10 in 5G only so as to give their customers something over Apple's latest iPhones?

The complexity may rest with some parts of the US and Europe not having their 5G services up and running in time. Verizon has promised to sell the new 5G Samsung phone in the first half 2019. But in the end, every Samsung customer wants to buy a 5G phone so that they're ready for when 5G services comes to their area. Samsung's 5G phones will carry 4G anyways, so why not just sell 5G phones. It's rather confusing.  How they manage inventory of 4 and 5G models will be interesting to hear about as they year progresses.

Samsung will no doubt explain their strategy in full when Samsung's event unfolds on February 20th in San Francisco. The original rumor was that Samsung was going to ship their 5G smartphone close to March 29th.  

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