Samsung
Samsung's virtual-reality Gear app leaked Reuters

The verdict is in and analysts are in agreement that in order for Samsung to stay relevant and put a decent fight against Apple it needs a fresh catalyst, which could prove as the Galaxy S6 release date in the early months of 2015.

As Apple continues to climb up with the iPhone and iPhone 6 Plus duo, Samsung is on a downhill as the latter failed to replicate its incredible success that the Galaxy S3 had started in 2012. The troubled South Korean tech giant is in desperate search for a new hero phone which was not realised in the sequential disappointments that are the Galaxy S4 and S5.

The need is ever more defined for a savior device and for Samsung it could be the Galaxy S6 and its arrival could be expedited by its maker for the following reasons:

Samsung badly needs a turnaround

With the GS3, Samsung effectively toppled Apple but the former's prospects started turning sour as the Galaxy S4 and S5 did not deliver the goods. The company is bleeding as its unit sales and profit margins continue to retreat.

Even as the Galaxy Note 4 was reportedly off to a good start, there is no assurance that the phablet flagship will improve Samsung's financial numbers at the close of December 2014 especially in light of the supersized iPhone 6 Plus.

Latest reports suggest that Apple's first phablet is well on its way to snatch the phablet throne from Samsung by selling millions following its debut, further eroding Samsung's precarious hold on its global smartphone market share.

The Galaxy S series badly needs a new blood injection that will make the product exciting again. And Samsung has no one to turn to now but the Galaxy S6. The early arrival of the device next year, if Samsung chooses to, could halt the giant momentum that Apple's iPhone 6 is enjoying at the moment.

Ride into the rising Android 5.0 Lollipop wave

One strength of Apple's iPhone line up is the operating system that brings it to life. More so when iOS 7 was introduced that brought a major change to the platform, making it straightforward and more powerful, which was sustained by the iOS 8 this 2014.

Google fired back with its fully-revamped Android 5.0 that was sweetened with the name Lollipop. Critics raved on what Google had cooked up and more interests were drummed up for the Nexus 6 and Nexus 9, which will serve as the first Android devices to showcase the pure power and killer features packed with Lollipop.

Other Android-based devices are also hogging the magnificence beamed out by Android 5.0, including the Galaxy S5 which appeared to be taking advantage of the new look, thanks to Material design, and functionalities with Lollipop.

It is only prudent for Samsung to join the snowballing gain of 5.0 and release the Lollipop-powered as soon as possible and help out the Note 4, said to be chewing in Lollipop as soon as December this year, in tussling with the iOS 8-driven iPhone 6 and 6 Plus.

Plus, if a new SamMobile report is to be believed that the Galaxy S6 is codenamed Project Zero (Samsung starting from scratch?) then the handset can be expected to showcase top-tier hardware and design, highlighted by a more Android 5.0-centric TouchWiz layering on release date.