Galaxy S3 mini name and announcement confirmed by Samsung’s JK Shin

And it looks that now w can confirm its existence, but also its name. The Galaxy S3 mini is coming this week – well, at least its announcement – and the news has been confirmed by Samsung’s own JK Shin, the chief of the mobile division.

While Shin didn’t reveal too many details about the Galaxy S3 mini, he did say that the handset is not going to be a entry-level to mid-range device. Instead it will be just a smaller form factor, but a high-end handset nonetheless, that they’ll call “mini:”

“We’ll be launching a 4-inch Galaxy S III on the 11th in Germany,” Shin said. “There’s a lot of demand for a 4-inch screen device in Europe. Some call it an entry-level device, but we call it ‘mini.'”

His comments were made during a meeting with Korean press and they’re very interesting. Even though he didn’t say anything about the device, it’s clear that Samsung is trying to put out a handset that will help it better fight the iPhone 5.

Apple’s latest iPhone, which established a new opening weekend sales record for a smartphone and which is expected to sell in record numbers in the Christmas quarter, is also a 4-inch device, the kind of handset that would see a “lot of demand for a 4-inch screen device in Europe.”

Is Samsung making a step backwards with a high-end Galaxy S3 mini model from the bigger-is-better movement we’ve seen in the Android universe?

Apple has been criticized for years for not increasing the screen size of the iPhone. Now that it finally did it, Samsung is getting ready to unveil a high-end 4-incher. Is it all a coincidence? If that’s so, where was the increased demand for a 4-inch high-end smartphone last year when the 4.3-inch (and bigger) Galaxy S2 versions were launched?

Since we’re dissecting Shin’s statements to the press, we can’t but wonder how a Galaxy S3 mini would be priced considering that it’s smaller than the Galaxy S3 and the Galaxy Note 2. Not to mention that the Galaxy S3 is already dropping in price with carriers. Will the Galaxy S3 mini be a high-end device available for a budget-friendly price (obviously we’re talking about on-contract pricing here), or will it be a high-end device that will come with a high-end price?

Availability details have not been revealed at this time, but the quote above seems to suggest that Europe will be the main market for this Galaxy S3 mini version At the same time, we’d be surprised not to see it launched in other regions as well.

Ultimately, Android buyers will definitely benefit from being able to choose from a variety of high-end devices especially at this particular time of the year, as the Christmas shopping season approaches. We’ll definitely be interested to hear from you what high-end Samsung handsets you’d rather buy, the Galaxy S3 mini, the Galaxy S3 or the Galaxy Note 2.

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