It is increasingly likely that Samsung will not announce a new Galaxy Note model this year; it is less clear which phone will replace the shelved Galaxy Note 21 as Samsung's major phone announcement for late 2021

One prominent leaker thinks he has the answer And it's probably not the phone you're thinking of

Leaker Evan Blass tweeted today (June 3) that the Galaxy S21 FE will be positioned as the follow-up to last year's Galaxy Note 20 21, which appeared earlier this year [The Galaxy S21 FE has certainly generated a lot of interest because it promises to offer the same features as the Galaxy S21 at a lower price However, as feature-packed as the S21 FE is rumored to be, running on the same Snapdragon 888 chipset as other S21 phones and featuring the same adaptive 120Hz display, it does not feel like a natural progression from the Note lineup

Galaxy Note models have traditionally been Samsung's largest and most feature-packed phones These days, screen size is less of a concern, as many of Samsung's flagship phones boast large displays However, the feature set of the decisive battle could be interesting in that the Galaxy Note in the past has always included the S Pen, but other Samsung phones have not [This spring, Samsung added S Pen support to the Galaxy S21 Ultra However, the stylus is sold separately, and the S21 Ultra is Samsung's most expensive S21 model, with prices starting at $1,199 the Galaxy S21 FE is expected to be about half that price, and there is no indication that Samsung will include S Pen support on lower-priced phones

Still, Samsung could have plenty of motivation to highlight the Galaxy S21 FE, which will be available later this year A subsequent Blass tweet shows first-half sales for the S21 series, and it's not a pretty picture for Samsung: according to Blass's figures, Samsung's new smartphone accounted for 70% of the sales recorded by the Galaxy S10, which was launched two years ago If these numbers are accurate, the pressure is definitely on Samsung to deliver a top-selling device in the second half of 2021, with or without S Pen support

That is what makes the Galaxy S21 FE such an attractive candidate By all accounts, the Galaxy S20 FE performed well last year, following many of the Galaxy S20's features but offering a $300 discount from the S20's original price; there won't be that much of a price drop between the S21 FE and the S21, but that's because Samsung is using the latter phone only because the phone's launch price was lowered to $799

Of course, the Galaxy S21 FE is not Samsung's only plan for the second half of this year Samsung is also rumored to be working on updated versions of two foldable phones, the Galaxy Z Fold 3 and the Galaxy Z Flip 3 The Galaxy Z Fold 3 in particular will be of interest to Galaxy Note fans

Rumor has it that all three models of the Galaxy S21 FE and the two foldable handsets will debut at Samsung's Unpacked event in August As such, Samsung will take a multi-pronged approach to replacing the Galaxy Note series, with the S21 FE as a more affordable option and the Galaxy Z Fold 3 as a premium model for productivity-conscious users

It remains to be seen what the second half of the year will look like for Samsung, but the handset maker's plans seem to be coming into focus