Do New Galaxy S8 Leaks Reveal Too Many Secrets?

Thanks to the incendiary Note 7 battery issues, Samsung delayed the production schedule of the Galaxy S8 and Galaxy S8 Plus to ensure that the correct lessons were learned from the burning phablet. That has pushed the launch date further back into 2017 - but nobody seems to have told the leakers. The volume of information coming out threatens to overwhelm the Galaxy S8's media strategy with too much information  arriving too early in its personal hype cycle.

Visitors experience Samsung Galaxy S7 and S7 Edge devices during the Korea Electronics Grand Fair (Photo: Jung Yeon-Je/AFP/Getty Images)

Of course the pace and content of these leaks would be just about fine if the Galaxy S8 portfolio was going to be revealed at this month's Mobile World Congress. While no manufacturer wants to have a device spoiled and leaked, the modern marketing schedule is built around the reality of the information industry. With twelve days to go until MWC the appearance of full renders and images of a smartphone, along with detailed specifications, should not be a surprise.

Unfortunately Samsung has already announced that it will not be launching the Galaxy S8 or the Galaxy S8 Plus in Barcelona - a short teaser trailer at the end of the press conference is not enough. Instead the indications are that Samsung is looking at late March for the official reveal (with March 29th suggested by many).

That's five weeks after MWC. That's five more weeks where the hype cycle will continue to be fed. That's five more weeks of everyone seeing more secrets about the Galaxy S8 and S8 Plus being spilled. That's five more weeks to try to keep secret any 'one more thing' moments from the presentation. That's five more weeks of teasing and preening and speculation while the competition will be storming out of MWC. That's five more weeks where the competition can get their handset on sale while the Galaxy S8 remains as 'speculative'.

DJ Koh, president of mobile communications business at Samsung (Photo by Drew Angerer/Getty Images)