Samsung Electronics plans to to release the Galaxy S7 smartphone in versions with 5.2-inch and 5.5-inch screens, as Apple has done with its iPhone 6 series. According to Korean ETNews.com, the Galaxy S7, which is currently being developed under a project name called 'HERO', will be mass-produced starting from February of 2016 and its release date will be around that time too.

According to industry sources, Samsung is currently working on both 'HERO1' and 'HERO2' projects. These are two different forms of Galaxy S7 that have different screen sizes and shape.

'HERO1' has 5.2-inch flat display while 'HERO2' is a curved-screen version that will be called the 'Galaxy S7 edge'. Edge indicates a display that has left and right side of screen bent.

Samsung plans an initial production run of about 5 million of its upcoming Galaxy S7 smartphones, South Korea's Electronic Times reported on Monday, citing unnamed sources.

Samsung plans to initially make 3.3 million of the flat-screen devices and around 1.6 million of the curved-screen version, the report said, with plans to launch the handset in February.

Samsung declined to comment on the report.