Apple Opponents Plan Device Onslaught to Combat the iPhone 5S

has not said when the next iPhone will be released. Nonetheless, three key competitors are already preparing for its arrival.

According to

, Samsung will release the Galaxy Note III during the third quarter in order to take on the iPhone 5S, iPhone 6 or any other iPhone Apple may release during the same timeframe. The new device will reportedly contain a 5.99-inch Super AMOLED display, which means that it will actually be smaller than the largest Galaxy Mega, which has a mammoth

. The Galaxy Note III is also expected to include an

-based

Exynos 5 eight-core processor. Not much else is known about the device, but if the next Galaxy Note arrives this summer, it will come less than 11 months after the Galaxy Note II. The lure of an early release could be hard to resist, however. In addition to the competition with Apple, Samsung may be eager to release another smartphone that can sell

in less than four weeks. While the Galaxy S IV is sure to sell more units overall (and sell at a faster rate), the Galaxy Note is a growing brand for Samsung. Next to the Galaxy S series, the Galaxy Note series represents Samsung's fastest-selling products. Samsung is not the only South Korean electronics company planning to compete head-on with the iPhone 5S. LG, the company that loves to remind us that "Life's Good," will reportedly release the Optimus G2 during the second half of the year. Expect it to come equipped with a five-inch full HD display and a Snapdragon 800 processor from

. Last but not least is HTC, the struggling smartphone maker that

. HTC hopes to turn things around with the Butterfly 2, which is expected to be released sometime during the third quarter. Very little is known about the rumored device, but DigiTime reported that it will have a "large-size display supporting Full HD and a number of features such as BlinkFeed, UltraPixel sensor and BoomSound speakers that are found in its latest flagship model, the New HTC One."