Samsung's Galaxy S24 Ultra could be coming a month earlier than we expected as a way to counter the iPhone 15 and iPhone 15 Pro launches. And thanks to new information from leaker Ice Universe on Weibo (h/t to 9To5Google), Samsung may be targeting January 18 for the unveiling.

The launch date for Samsung's flagship model is usually in February, around the time of Mobile World Congress in Spain. This year, however, the Korean giant seems a bit troubled by the success of the iPhone 15. Apple's new device is selling quite well despite the economic downturn that is affecting the rest of the smartphone industry.

The news confirms prior leaks from @Tech_Reve on Twitter, who claimed that the Galaxy S24 launch might be moved up "about a month" compared to the Galaxy S23.

Looking at the dates, January 18 seems like a good bet. I don't think Samsung would want it to clash with CES 2024, which opens on January 9.

@Tech_Reve claims that production of the Galaxy S24 will begin "mid next month" with a possible early launch. Therefore, it is unlikely that this phone will be ready in time for the end of this year. One also has to wonder what Samsung would gain by moving up the launch of the phone to counter the success of the iPhone 15.

For starters, even if moved up one month from the Galaxy S23, the S24 would still launch about three months after the iPhone 15. Needless to say, Apple's latest model has already started selling in large numbers and will continue to do so during the Black Friday and pre-holiday sales period.

Granted, Samsung's phone launches seem to vary considerably. A few years ago we saw the Galaxy S launch happen in March, only for Samsung to pull things back to mid to late January. Some, such as the Galaxy S23 and Galaxy S22, have been pushed back to February, but otherwise Samsung has fully embraced a much earlier launch.

Rather than a panicked and bizarre attempt to catch up with the iPhone, this move to launch even earlier may be an extension of that. Samsung will never admit that it is trying to catch up to Apple. So we will just have to wait and see how this all plays out.

In the meantime, be sure to check out our Samsung Galaxy S24 and Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra Hub to get the lowdown on all the latest news and rumors about the upcoming flagship.