Apple introduces their annual flagship smartphone so late in the year. Doesn't it give Samsung plenty of time to counter them spec wise next year? :)
BTW, no, the iPhone that's going to be announced in the autumn is likely going through the last phases of testing.
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.
I wonder if competitors would get drowned out if they announced around the same time. (Not trolling, genuinely wondering, as iPhones create a lot of buzz.)
Plus, Apple buys or has bought chips and screens from Samsung.
On the flip side, getting your flagship out months and months before Apple means hundreds of thousands or millions of people walking around with the "latest and greatest" which might just eclipse the last gen iPhone.
Still, Apple doesn't compete on specs. They happily put less megapixels (with better quality) or a lower clock speed (with better chip design and operating system efficiency), and have almost always had much smaller batteries.
That's why Apple set the trends with large phone displays and 7 inch tablets right? I think Apple makes great devices and that you don't need to distort the great work this company does by living in a fantasy world about Apple getting everything right on the first try and not borrowing ideas from others because they clearly do.
I didn't say they never follow trends, in fact I explicitly pointed out when they did -- to ensure that iOS and iPhone don't fall behind on critical features.
Fact is, Apple could not care less what gimmick or spec Samsung is introducing. Apple will not adjust this years iPhone because of any feature or spec that Samsung introduces, and they've never done that in the past either. The biggest change like this would be perhaps Jobs' frantic last minute change from plastic to glass screen, a "rest is history" kind of moment.
If Samsung's new feature this year is that important then Apple will introduce it in a few years. They're not in a rush. Years late to mobile payments, years late to e-watches, years late to large screens... they do not make quick changes.