Samsung
Samsung’s Galaxy Alpha Photos Look Alike iPhone REUTERS/Lee Jae-Won

For Samsung the number speak volume as its Q3 2014 result indicated that the Galaxy S5 was hardly the hit gadget the company had envisioned, likely prompting an advanced release date for the Galaxy S5 in 2015.

And to add insult to injury, the smartphone - the iPhone 6 that is - that the South Korean tech giant had vowed to defeat is romping it way to the top, leaving its rivals, Samsung including, helplessly watching in envy.

56 million iPhone 6

By the end of December 2014, Samsung's chief rival, Apple, is set to clear more than 56 million iPhone 6, 41.6 million units of which comprised of the 4.7-inch variant. A new report by Ming-chi Kuo of KGI Securities is predicting that iPhone shipments during the 2014 holiday quarter will jump by 82 per cent, according to 9to5Mac.

The figures would have been higher had the iPhone 6 Plus was not hampered by supply shortage. Kuo explained that the main reason the 6 Plus will only clock 15.1 million in total sales for the last three months of the year is problems with the supply chain.

That was suggesting that the first iPhone phablet would in theory easily rout, if not already happening, the original jumbo smartphone from Samsung that is already on its fourth iteration in the Galaxy Note 4.

Insufficient Galaxy S5 sales

Next to the iPhone, Samsung's Galaxy flagship is arguably the most popular smartphone brand and true enough the Galaxy S5 cleared tens of millions so far. Good news for Samsung? Not exactly as The Verge reported that total sales of the GS5 so far is 40 per cent lower than projected.

And since the iPhone 6 was released, the GS5 simply moved slowly with units of the device gathering dust on Samsung warehouses. One option for the Galaxy maker is to provide discounts to make the GS5 a bit more of a consumer-magnet but such move will hurt the company's profit.

Earlier Galaxy S6 release date

The most tempting answer to the pile of Samsung woes is the introduction of a fresh hero device that is able to take on the iPhone 6 and 6 Plus duo. That very solution points to an advanced release date for the Galaxy S6, which rumours say is a complete reboot of the Galaxy flagship hence the Project Zero codename.

Likely headlining the refresh is the curved screen on the left and right edges of the front panel that enhances the new form-factor introduced with the Galaxy Note Edge. Other killer features remain unknown but it should be safe to assume that the device will be designed to become a worthy iPhone 6 and 7 opponent, definitely better than the Galaxy S5 - inside and out.

In the event Samsung will push for an earlier Galaxy S6 release date, the device touchdown should be between January and February with the introduction likely to use the 2015 CES, to kick off on January 6, as platform.