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Samsung Galaxy S8 is the elephant in the room

How did the absence of Samsung's latest Galaxy affect the world's largest mobile show? Deeply.

Jessica Dolcourt Senior Director, Commerce & Content Operations
Jessica Dolcourt is a passionate content strategist and veteran leader of CNET coverage. As Senior Director of Commerce & Content Operations, she leads a number of teams, including Commerce, How-To and Performance Optimization. Her CNET career began in 2006, testing desktop and mobile software for Download.com and CNET, including the first iPhone and Android apps and operating systems. She continued to review, report on and write a wide range of commentary and analysis on all things phones, with an emphasis on iPhone and Samsung. Jessica was one of the first people in the world to test, review and report on foldable phones and 5G wireless speeds. Jessica began leading CNET's How-To section for tips and FAQs in 2019, guiding coverage of topics ranging from personal finance to phones and home. She holds an MA with Distinction from the University of Warwick (UK).
Expertise Content strategy, team leadership, audience engagement, iPhone, Samsung, Android, iOS, tips and FAQs.
Jessica Dolcourt
2 min read

There's a Samsung-shaped hole in the new crop of phones we saw this week at Mobile World Congress, the industry's largest mobile show. And that's because Samsung didn't launch one.

Instead, it introduced a tablet and a two-in-one, and tacked on a disappointing video teasing the Galaxy S8 event, taking place March 29 in New York. Samsung pushed the Galaxy S8 launch because it had to sew up its time-consuming and terribly embarrassing botched Note 7 launch.

And the Galaxy S8's absence was palpable. Samsung's launch typically helps anchor the show for industry watchers. Its massive presence whips up excitement year after year, and gives us phone reviewers a chance to compare the devices that'll launch in the following months. Now we'll have to wait to to size up top-tier handsets such as the LG G6, Huawei P 10 Plus and Sony Xperia XZ Premium.

Watch this: Samsung teases Galaxy S8 reveal for late March

Not that Samsung should mind that its phone didn't show. It means the company can pick its own venue and start time. It doesn't have to worry about journalists scrambling to arrive from other events, or dashing off for the next press conference across town. By controlling every detail of its own unveiling, Samsung doesn't have to share the spotlight.

And competitors, too, can in theory shine without being eclipsed by the loud, flashy diva that is Samsung. But look what happened instead. It wasn't LG's slim, nearly bezel-less G6 that drew the most interest from CNET readers. It was the Nokia 3310, which isn't even a smartphone. It's an update of a 17-year-old design and it isn't even going to work in many countries, including the US.

MWC 2017: All the gadgets announced so far

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The audacity of such a blatant nostalgia play was one reason that press and readers glommed onto a phone that's otherwise too basic to even notice. But then again, if the 3310's color screen and return of the Snake game can steal the show, what does it say about the show's wow-factor in the first place?

Had Samsung's Galaxy S8 made an appearance, we'd be having a much different conversation than the reappearance of a year-2000 phone. And we'd all be better for it.

Read next: LG G6 to Samsung Galaxy S8: Catch me if you can
And also: Everything we know about Samsung's Galaxy S8 phone

Watch this: Nokia 3310 vs. iPhone 7 in a real city battle