Samsung might push up the release for its next flagship phone, the Galaxy S7, to January. This move could help Samsung compete with Apple in a battle for the best smartphone.

According to South Korea's Electronic Times, Samsung has already completed the design and is making its final tweaks to the Galaxy S7 so that it can be ready for a January release. The news source cites "many people in the smartphone parts industries."

If Samsung changes its release date for their next phone to January, it gives consumers a new timeframe to upgrade their smartphone. Samsung hopes that customers will pass on purchasing the iPhone 6s, which just launched last month, and instead buy the Galaxy S7 in January. Samsung and Apple are known to make some of the best smartphones in the world and usually compete directly with each other, CNet reports.

Samsung has struggled lately, facing a decline in sales and profits. The company expects to return to growth in October though.

Samsung wants to get the new Galaxy S7 on the shelves as quick as it can to allow customers to buy it instead of the iPhone 6s. 

Usually Samsung keeps a predictable schedule when it comes to releasing phones. The company times its phone releases with major events like the Mobile World Conference (MWC). MWC is where Samsung introduced the Galaxy S6. Samsung did change their strategy with a special event to announce the Galaxy Note 5, however. This means they could do the same thing in January for the Galaxy S7 and host a special event just for that purpose.

Samsung has to compete with new features recently introduced by Apple such as the pressure sensitive 3D Touch technology.