[lauritz]

How about the other way round? Who's to say that they're not countering Apple in their specs?

I think that with this one-year cycle that phone manufacturers have--unfortunately--imposed on themselves, it is a strategic decision to have both ecosystems at different times in the year--so you have all the media buzz for one system at a time. If you were to have both competitors released at the same time, there would be probably less reporting on either, and that may be a risk neither Samsung nor Apple want to take--the two being the only two manufacturers whose releases regularly make it into non-tech news outlets.

Also, if you have half a year between releases, then the pressure of being able to directly compare specs is off, as compared to if both were released the same day (then one would have 'won' the specs contest and the other lost, which would likely be publicized widely, which both want to avoid by being able to say: our next release will blow everything that existed before out of the water).

Those would be my best guesses why we're seeing such consistent schedules.

[massysett]

I have always wondered if it's a cultural thing? Apple is a US company and times its releases so they are ready for Western winter holidays. As a Korean company is there something significant about spring?