6 months on, Samsung reveals why Note 5 didn’t come to Europe

Note 5 still isn't available in Europe. Photo: Jim Merithew/Cult of Android

Note 5 still isn’t available in Europe. Photo: Jim Merithew/Cult of Android

Six months after launching the Galaxy Note 5, Samsung has finally revealed the reason why it decided not to bring the device to Europe — and it might just offend you.

According to the South Korean company, we Europeans just aren’t productive enough.

The Galaxy Note series is all about getting stuff done on the go, which is why it has that beautifully big display, the intelligent S Pen, and ample power. But most Europeans don’t use it to be more productive, Samsung says.

“If you look at the large screen form factor in Europe it’s fundamentally different as in the US and it’s fundamentally different to China,” said Rory O’Neill, Samsung’s European Vice President of Brand and Marketing, during an interview with TechRadar.

“We studied that the user patterns for large-screen devices in Europe were much more entertainment-centric, viewing-centric, than while the Note proposition is really good, is more on the productivity side and personal organisation side.”

Samsung did give Europeans the Galaxy S6 edge+, which is very similar to the Note 5 internally, but swaps the S Pen for a curved display. That has appeased many fans, but many others have been calling for Samsung to change its mind and deliver the Note 5 in the E.U.

The company is yet to make that move, though, and with the Galaxy Note 6 just six months away, it seems even more unlikely now. Fortunately, Europe will get the Note 6, according to a recent report, but we could lose the Galaxy S7 edge+ as a result.