[THE INVESTOR] Samsung Electronics is making all-out efforts to upgrade key features of its next flagship smartphone, tentatively called Galaxy S8, amid the worsening battery fiasco of its latest Note 7 phablet.

According to industry sources, the Korean tech giant has no immediate plan to advance the new launch that usually comes in March every year.

“Samsung is making parts orders for the Galaxy S8. Several new, more expansive components are expected to be used,” said an official of a Samsung parts supplier on condition of anonymity. 

Some critics say the faulty batteries of the Note phone could have not been fully tested as the company launched the model almost a month earlier than usual possibly to take on the then planned Apple iPhone 7 debut.

With production of the bigger-screen sibling being suspended, attention is being paid to the Galaxy S8, a crucial new phone that would help Samsung pick up the pieces following the unprecedented recall of its flagship smartphone.

One of the big rumors surrounding the upcoming Samsung phone is it could remove the home button on the bottom bezel to allow more immersive viewing of photos and videos.

Fueling the rumor is its archrival Apple’s possible ditching of the physical home button for the next iPhone. The company was recently granted a patent for a screen-based fingerprint sensor.

Apple is expected to adopt organic light-emitting diode screen into its iPhones partially from next year, with Samsung Display being named the sole supplier.

As they share the same display panels, speculation is rising that the two companies could get rid of the home button and have a fingerprint sensor built into the screen.

Rumors are also surfacing about the camera and chip.

Samsung’s parts suppliers are already taking orders for the production of dual-lens cameras that greatly upgrade camera functions to match the quality of DSLR cameras.

Apple’s iPhone 7 also features a dual-lens camera, with the modules being supplied by LG Innotek, the electronics parts manufacturer of LG Group. Samsung is expected to be supplied with the camera modules by a third-party supplier.

Samsung plans to use its own Exynos processor together with Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 830 chips for the Galaxy S8. The company will reportedly start producing the Snapdragon chips from later this year.

The two chips will be produced using 10-nano fabrication technologies that improve overall chip functions on a smartphone while reducing energy consumption.

By Lee Ji-yoon (jylee@heraldcorp.com)