Last year, Samsung's Galaxy S20 FE came out with a bang, having the best features of the Galaxy S21 but with a few tweaks, mainly changing the back glass to a plastic finish. And it was a huge success, making it an easy phone to recommend to people who don't want to spend $800+ for a full flagship phone, but don't want a mediocre phone either.

So we expected the Samsung Galaxy S21 FE to be a sure bet this fall. However, Samsung's Galaxy Unpacked Part 2 event ended without any mention of the Galaxy S21 FE, let alone its unveiling. What exactly happened? [According to the latest rumors, the Galaxy S21 FE will be released in January 2022. But still some questions remain.

This first question is that if the Galaxy S21 FE is indeed in development and all the leaks and rumors so far have not been smoke and mirrors, then why hasn't it appeared at the logically expected time?

Given that Samsung does not comment on such rumors, all we have is empirical speculation. We suspect the great chip shortage over the past 12 months to be the main cause; the COVID-19 pandemic has caused disruption to the semiconductor manufacturing and supply chain, which in turn has affected the amount of new electronic products available, ranging from the PS5 and Xbox Series X to other devices automotive .

Therefore, the Galaxy 21 FE may have been affected as well. Samsung has already released a total of six models, three from the Galaxy S21 family and the Galaxy Z Fold 3 and Galaxy Z Flip 3 with the high-end Qualcomm Snapdragon 888. In other words, there is already serious demand for these slices of silicon, and the addition of another phone could put even more pressure on Samsung's chip supply.

The overall situation may ease up a bit next year. However, according to analyst houses like Gartner, it is not set to return to normal until the second or third quarter of 2022. Therefore, it seems like a smart business decision for Samsung to hold off on the development of the Galaxy S21 FE until chip supplies are in place to guarantee a high level of production.

However, the Samsung Galaxy S22 is said to be released in the first quarter of 2022. It is expected to feature a custom Exynos chipset with AMD graphics, so Samsung may have accessed another supplier to meet its needs and released the supply of Snapdragon 888 chips for the Galaxy S21 FE.

However, this assumes that Qualcomm has a sufficient number of chips available and in production. Therefore, there is much uncertainty and speculation as to whether the Galaxy S21 FE is meant to be released next year. However, it is possible that it will be cancelled altogether.

And this leads to the second point. Galaxy 21 FE may not happen at all.

Indeed, the leaks and rumors so far paint a compelling picture of a cheaper Galaxy S21. However, nearly 10 months have passed since the Galaxy S21 was released, so if you want a cheaper Galaxy S21, you can look around for Galaxy S21 deals.

Combine this with the Galaxy S22 scheduled for release in early 2022, and Samsung may have come to the conclusion that it makes no sense to release a new FE model when people are more likely to wait for the next flagship phone.

Furthermore, the Galaxy S21 is about $200 cheaper than the Galaxy S20, and if the Galaxy S22 is even cheaper, the need for a cheaper flagship FE phone will definitely be moot.

We have already seen the Galaxy Note line put out to pasture thanks to the Galaxy S21 Ultra offering many of the features expected in the next generation Note phones. So it is not a stretch of the imagination to think that Samsung might not make a next-generation FE device.

Or they may simply wait and make the Galaxy S22 FE next fall. In that case, the Galaxy S22 FE would be a better choice, since it has been two years since the release of the Galaxy S20 FE and many of its buyers might be considering an upgrade.

In short, there is no answer as to where the Galaxy S21 FE is. I am also wondering if I actually need one.

A phone with almost flagship specs is certainly desirable. However, the $699 Galaxy S20 FE at launch was not as cheap as we would have liked. Also, given that Galaxy phones tend to become a bargain in the first few months after launch, the value proposition of the FE phone fades. Furthermore, competition in the more affordable Android flagship segment just got tougher thanks to the $599 Google Pixel 6.

Ultimately, we'll have to wait and see about the Galaxy S21 FE. Please don't let me down, as there are plenty of smartphones I'd love to get my hands on right now.