samsung finally announced the Galaxy S23 series with incremental upgrades over its predecessors, but one of the most anticipated features did not arrive with the new smartphones as expected.

While Apple already offers its satellite connectivity for emergency messaging – and saves lives in the process – Samsung opted not to add satellite connectivity on the Galaxy S23.

In an interview with CNET, TM Roh, head of Mobile Experience Business at Samsung, admitted that there is a lot of interest in bringing satellite connectivity to its smartphones, but says it’s still too early to do so as its functionality is severely limited.

Roh justified his decision by assuring that satellite connectivity is just a way to improve smartphones to help people in emergency situations, it is not “the total solution to ensure peace of mind for users” and that Samsung is making efforts in other areas. such as security, improvement of 5G connectivity and sensors.

However, some unknowns remain in the air. Qualcomm recently announced its satellite connectivity service for Android smartphones. Samsung is perhaps one of Qualcomm’s strongest partners today, coming up with an exclusive version of the mighty Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 for the Galaxy S23 series.

The question is why Samsung didn’t adopt Qualcomm’s technology for the series. Smartphones with satellite connectivity that Qualcomm proposes are likely to have special hardware, and Samsung didn’t want to cut its margins by adding little-used features.

Perhaps Qualcomm’s technology is not yet at its peak of development and including it in the Galaxy S23 series would have worked against it. Or simply, the Galaxy S23 series is no longer Samsung’s flagship series and the company begins to focus on its Galaxy Z series foldable smartphones as the most powerful products in its lineup.

Be that as it may, this time Samsung could not overcome one of the features of its arch-rival Apple. Maybe, it’s for the better and Samsung starts to fly on its own.