Paul Briden 06/04/2017 - 3:09pm

Samsung is already hard at work on the Galaxy S9 and Galaxy S9 Plus

And in other news, the sky is also blue.

Yes folks, apparently, according to news sources in Korea, the Samsung Galaxy S9 is already in development before Galaxy S8 units are even in the hands of pre-order customers.

This is not at all surprising. We're now quite used to the development cycle which for most companies, particularly the major ones like Samsung and Apple, requires that development of a new product begins long before its predecessor is even released. Indeed, we've been seeing this in the last 12 months or so on the subject of the iPhone 8 and iPhone 7, both being rumoured prior to the iPhone 7 launch.

The word of Samsung's latest development cycle comes via The Bell, which cites unnamed insider industry sources who claim Samsung has been working on the new display panel for the Galaxy S9 since March. Assuming this is accurate, it means Samsung is six months ahead of the schedule it undertook for the Galaxy S8 in 2016.

The report claims that systems Samsung has put in place following the Galaxy Note 7 "explosiongate" debacle have streamlined its development process, meaning it's been able to hurry along the development cycle a bit quicker simply due to greater efficiency.

"Since late last month, a display team for the S9 has started the development work with aims to supply samples from mid-April. About a month after the display, other key parts such as modules are expected to be developed in phases," said one of the sources.

Any specifics divulged at this point should probably be taken with a hefty dollop of salty goodness, as we're likely in the pre-prototyping and selection phase. Everything could change. With that said, however, the sources claim we may see two screen sizes once again at 5.2in and 6.2in; the same as the Galaxy S8 series.