Verizon Wireless on Thursday confirmed that it will not carry the Galaxy S II smartphone, which Samsung is expected to unveil on August 29.
"We have a robust portfolio of devices that offer customers exciting options including the Droid Charge by Samsung which runs on our 4G LTE network," a Verizon spokeswoman said in a statement. She declined to provide additional details on the decision.
According to the Wall Street Journal, which first reported the story, not having the support of the biggest U.S. carrier means "Samsung could have a more formidable task taking on global market-share leader Apple Inc. and its iPhone."
Recent IDC data said Samsung has had a huge quarter thanks to the success of its Galaxy S line of smartphones. The handset maker shipped 17.3 million devices, a 380.6 percent change from the 3.6 million smartphones it shipped in the second quarter of 2010. That, IDC said, was the largest year-over-year growth of any vendor in the top five. Apple, however, shipped 20.3 million iPhones during the last quarter for a 19.3 percent share.
The Samsung Galaxy S II is Samsung's fastest-selling smartphone to date, based on its April debut in South Korea and parts of Europe, selling one every three seconds between April and July. The device runs a dual-core 1.2-GHz processor, includes an 800-by-480 Super AMOLED Plus touch screen, 8-megapixel rear-facing and 2-megapixel front-facing cameras, and 4G support.
Samsung has sent out invitations for a "major product announcement" in New York on August 29, which is expected to be the Samsung Galaxy S II U.S. launch.
For more, see PCMag's hands on with the Samsung Galaxy S II and the slideshow below.