There are two ways of looking at the super-highly-anticipated Samsung Galaxy Note 7, which finally went official the other day with few surprises left in store. You can view the dual-curved 5.7-incher as a slightly larger S7 Edge with an S Pen in tow, iris recognition, and little else changed, or compare it to the Note 5 and find many crucial differences and upgrades.

But the million-dollar question (or perhaps, several billion dollars) is does the “next big thing” have what it takes to keep Samsung’s phenomenal box-office momentum going? According to financial analysis firm Hyundai Securities, yes… and no.

The early prediction is the stylus-wielding phablet will ship 12 million units by the end of the year around the world. That’s 12 mil in roughly four and a half months, including the perennially lucrative holiday season. The Galaxy S7 duo in contrast is estimated to have crossed 26M in well under 120 days, so clearly, Sammy can’t expect another hit of an equal magnitude already.

Also, the mobile division’s Q3 operating profit may take a bit of a dive compared to Q2, and the 350 million copies boldly projected for the whole of 2016 are no longer a realistic objective. Then again, the 12M shipments of the Galaxy Note 7 sound like a decent result for a minor refinement of an existing design, probably eclipsing the Note 5 and 4’s scores from way back.

Source: The Korea Herald