Samsung's Galaxy S21 Ultra may finally inherit the headline features of the Galaxy Note 20, and this could have a major impact on Samsung's future phone lineup.

Reliable leaker Ice Universe has already revealed information about the Galaxy S21's camera and display, and now it claims that Samsung's next flagship phone will work with the S Pen.

What IU has not confirmed is whether the Galaxy S21 will actually feature the S Pen, a key feature of the Galaxy Note series. It is possible that Samsung will sell a separate stylus that can be paired with the Galaxy S21 Ultra, but it will not be included by default, nor will it provide a slot to store it in the phone itself.

There have been rumors in the past that the S Pen will be included in phones other than the Galaxy Note, such as the Galaxy Z Fold 2. However, these have turned out to be inaccurate for the final model. If Samsung introduces S Pen compatibility in the S21 Ultra, it will probably be included in other models as well.

From IU's tweet, it seems that Samsung is now considering bringing the Galaxy S and Galaxy Note series even closer together, perhaps merging them and discontinuing either model altogether. The two lines already share many internal specs, differing only in design, camera placement, and the S Pen. Therefore, merging the two lines would likely result in only minor differences.

Furthermore, the Galaxy Note 20 is not exactly selling well. According to Korean publication The Elec, Samsung produced only 70% of its planned Note 20 in the month of October. The plan was for 900,000 units, but the company reportedly produced only 600,000.

Another potential reason for the integration of the S series and Note 20 series is a future in which Samsung's Galaxy Z foldables become mainstream devices rather than the ultra-premium phones they are today. Combining two phones that are not current foldables seems like an obvious route for Samsung to take to avoid competition with its own products.

The Galaxy S21 is expected to debut in January 2021. This is a step earlier than the usual February launch and is suspected to be a reaction to the recent launch of the iPhone 12 and Huawei's Mate 40 Pro. Samsung seems to be hoping to avoid losing sales by moving the next big announcement forward, moving to a new generation as soon as possible.

Whether these leaks and rumors prove to be correct or not, time will tell, as it always has. But 2021 may bring big changes for Samsung.